Monmouth Merges Medical Examiner's Office with Middlesex

Monmouth County will merge its medical examiner’s office with Middlesex County, the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders announced this week. The move expands an existing agreement between the two counties, which already share one ME.

Effective April 1, Middlesex County will take over all of Monmouth County’s death investigations. The ME’s office investigates all unexplained natural deaths and violent deaths in order to determine cause and manner of death. The office also preserves evidence, analyzes physical evidence and provides expert testimony in court cases.

The Middlesex County medical examiner’s office is located in North Brunswick.

Counties already shared an ME for past seven years

Middlesex and Monmouth counties have shared a medical examiner since 2009. Monmouth County still maintained an office and staff. However, this complete merger will do away with those administrative and rent costs, officials say. Current ME employees will interview for new jobs, a county spokeswoman said, and there are some retirements and vacancies.

Monmouth County will pay Middlesex County $1.4 million per year for 10 years. Currently, Monmouth County budgets $1.5 million a year to pay for its medical examiner’s outpost. That $100,000 savings per year adds up to a $1 million-savings over a 10-year period.