Cremation has become an increasingly popular choice for funeral arrangements.

Each time a family requests cremation, the funeral director must get authorization from the county coroner's office where the person died - to ensure they are not potentially destroying evidence of a crime.In Schuylkill County, the number of cremations has increased by 50 percent since 2008, meaning the workload for employees has as well.With the increased demand, the county has decided to increase the cost for cremation authorizations to $50 starting April 1. The commissioners voted 3-0 to approve the change at their workshop meeting on Wednesday.It's the first time the rate has been raised in more than two decades, when it was raised to $25.By law the coroner's office must authorize cremations, anatomic gifts (giving your body to science) and even burials at sea.Last year, the county authorized 822 cremations, up from 760 in 2014. This year is expected to be even higher, according to statistics from the Schuylkill County Coroner's Office.Coroner David Moylan said that the practice prevents the possibility of a rushed cremation to cover up a crime.Moylan told a story of a scandalous doctor who poisoned his wife and fled for Europe after destroying the evidence by cremation."This is a duty we take very seriously," he said.Moylan told the commissioners that authorizations require round-the-clock staffing in the coroner's office to handle the large number of requests.Oftentimes, they will call the doctor or funeral director seeking authorization and ask them if there is any chance that there was elder abuse in the case."It's time intensive, and there's a lot of pressure on us from the 40 funeral directors in the county - they're in business, and they want to complete this."Moylan said he surveyed other counties and found $50 was a competitive rate.Carbon County does not charge for the service.Coroner Robert Miller says that at some point in the future they may have to comply with a rate set by the state Legislature.The rate will take effect April 1 so the coroner's office can notify funeral directors.