Four death inquest investigators start in Williamson County Jan. 10

“We are getting some highly skilled and extremely qualified death investigators,” Williams said in an interview with Community Impact.

Historically, justices of the peace have been in charge of responding to death inquests, Williams said. Williamson County commissioners approved funding for the new positions as part of the fiscal year 2024-25 general budget.

“I’m so proud of this particular piece of our budget, and in fact, it may be the most important thing I’ve been a part of since I’ve been county judge,” Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell said at an Aug. 27 county commissioners meeting.

Law enforcement agencies working alongside Williamson County are invited to meet the new DIIs at a meeting at the end of January, Williams said.

How it works

The investigators will respond to death inquests for the county’s unattended deaths, Williams said. Williams said unattended deaths can look like a person dying:

• In prison
• By suicide
• From unknown circumstances
• An unnatural death, such as drowning or in an automobile accident
• While under the care of a physician who only verifies death certificates for natural deaths

The investigators will be supervised by the justices and Williamson County Manager Rebecca Clemons, but ultimately serve at the will of the commissioners court, Williams said.

The backstory

Up until now, the county’s four justices have been responsible for conducting death inquests through one-week shifts, since Williamson County doesn’t have a medical examiner’s office, Williams said.

For three weeks out of the month, justices would have a full court docket, but starting Thursday at 5 p.m., they would be on-call 24/7 for death inquiries countywide until the following Thursday, Williams said. Justices could receive anywhere from 25-30 inquests during their week on call, she said.

“Our on-call schedule is going to stay the same, but we are not going to be answering all those calls or responding to those scenes,” Williams said. “Our death investigator is going to be doing that for us.”

By the numbers

According to a 2023 report compiled by the justices of the peace, Williamson County death cases have increased by 122% since 2014, while the number of justices has stayed the same.

Williamson County is the 12th-largest county in Texas, but is the only one of Texas’ 13 most-populated counties without a medical examiner’s office, according to the report. Additionally, seven Texas counties with populations smaller than Williamson County have a medical examiner’s office, and several have more than four justices of the peace, per the report.

Williams spoke at a commissioners court meeting on April 16, and asked officials to consider adding DIIs to help with the justices’ workloads.

“Unfortunately, there's a lack of medical examiners in the entire nation,” Williams told Community Impact.

Gravell voiced a need for death inquest investigators back in 2015, when he himself was a Justice of the Peace for Precinct 3, according to previous Community Impact reporting.

“At the end of the day, it's what's best for Williamson County, and with our growth, the death investigators [are] just a temporary solution to the ultimate issue that we have in the county ... which is a medical examiner's office,” Williams said.

Stay tuned

While the commissioners court is considering locating the county’s future medical examiner’s office at the newly-purchased Lake Creek Annex building in Austin, no final decisions on the annex have been made, a county official said.

On Jan. 7, commissioners approved contracts with The Beck Group and Brandt Companies for engineering and construction services at Lake Creek Annex, per county documents. Precinct 3 Commissioner Valerie Covey said she sees the contracts as a first step in master planning the building.

A Williamson County medical examiner’s office would allow the county to conduct its own autopsies. Currently, when justices of the peace are unable to certify the cause and manner of death, officials will request an autopsy report from Hill Country Forensics or the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office, which can take several months, Williams said.

Why it matters

Assistance from the DIIs will free up an additional court week for each of the justices, allowing for more cases to be heard each month. As of Nov. 30, there were 2,123 civil cases and 4,391 criminal cases awaiting hearings in Precinct 2 alone, Williams said.

“It's not necessarily about only helping the [justice of the peace],” Williams said. “It's about helping the county to provide the necessary support in handling very sensitive concerns in our county when a loved one passes away.”