DeKalb County is once again searching for a new medical examiner after Dr. Denise Dingle announced last week that she was stepping down from the position following new policies that were put in place. Dr. Dingle made the announcement on Friday, January 31, in an email to County Mayor Matt Adcock and copied to all county commissioners and the media, stating she would resign her position at 11:59 p.m. that evening.
The letter read; “In light that almost a year ago I informed you that I was unable to accept this proposal because of multiple reasons, and your response as stated in the October 2024 council meeting was to display aggressive and threatening behavior. I stand on my reasoning. I discussed this proposal with the comptroller last year and was advised while not illegal that it would leave me open to potential civil action on multiple fronts. Since I feel you elected to blindside me with this proposal, despite facts given to you last year, I regretfully resign from my position as Medical Examiner effective 31 Jan 2025 at 2359 hrs.
“I would say it has been a pleasure to serve almost all of the citizens of DeKalb County. I would also like to thank Sabrina Farler for stating if I didn't like the new policy I could resign, and so I will.”
Dr. Dingle’s position as medical examiner has been a contentious one, having been terminated as medical director in August 2024, over county emergency medical services, and suspended her for 90 days as the county medical examiner.
The following month, the DeKalb County Commission, during its regular monthly meeting, failed to muster the eight votes needed to uphold the 90-day suspension and she was reinstated in that role. Many local citizens came to the meeting expressing their support for Dr. Dingle and her work as medical examiner.
In December 2024, an email was sent to Dr. Dingle by County Mayor Adcock informing her of new policy changes for the position, namely how Medical Death Investigators were paid. According to Adcock, Dr. Dingle was paid $5,000 a year by the county as medical director and $100 per body as medical examiner. The investigators, which also serve at DeKalb EMS, were going to scenes and were being paid as EMS workers as well as $100 as death investigators. Adcock said that this was seen as “double dipping,” or paying an employee twice by the county for two different positions at the same time.
To fix the issue, the county commission adopted a new policy for how the investigators were paid, following examples by other neighboring counties.
Mayor Adcock informed Dr. Dingle of the policy in an email in December, stating, “I would like to inform you of the Medical Examiner Policy that was passed by the County Commission on Monday. The policy is attached below for your review. The policy states that the county will pay $200 to the Medical Examiner per decedent. The Medical Examiner will be responsible for paying the Medical Death Investigators (MDI) $100. The Medical Examiner must pay the employee within a 30-day period from the time of the investigation. In the end, this would be $100 to the Medical Examiner and $100 to the Medical Death Investigator. Please examine the policy attached for more information.”
The email went on to say, “I do know that this is the practice of Dr. Thomas in Cannon County. I am sure Dr. Thomas would be a good contact to reach out to if you have any questions on how to properly set up this system. I believe Dr. Thomas has these employees as 1099 employees of his office, but you can ask him to determine that. Let me know if you have any questions and I appreciate your help and willingness to provide the best service to our community.”
The new policy states: “$200 will be paid to the Medical Examiner per decedent. The $200 will be $100 for the Medical Examiner and $100 for the Medical Investigator. 911 will notify the Medical Examiner. The Medical Examiner will be responsible for contacting a Medical Investigator on each body. The Medical Examiner will be responsible for paying the Medical Investigator within 30 days of receiving the money from the county. A DeKalb County employee can be the Medical Investigator as long as they are not on the DeKalb County clock during the investigation.”
The county will now search for a new medical examiner. In the meantime, officials say a state medical examiner will be available until the position is filled.
