ME’s office budget 25 percent less than when Preckwinkle took office

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Updated: January 28, 2012 9:36AM

In cleaning up the mess at the Cook County morgue, Board President Toni Preckwinkle pointed to management problems at the medical examiner’s office — but also noted that state and county budget woes had contributed to the problems.

The state’s budget for burials for people on public aid dropped $13 million across Illinois last year. But some of the budget cuts at the medical examiner’s office were put in place by Preckwinkle.

The examiner’s 2012 budget of $6.8 million is $1.7 million, or 25 percent, less than when Preckwinkle took office. Twenty of the 97 budgeted positions at the office are unfilled.

In the 2010 budget year, the medical examiner’s budget was $8.5 million. But in 2011, the first year of Preckwinkle’s administration, the budget fell to $7.1 million, even though Medical Examiner Nancy Jones had asked for $8.6 million.

Asked on Friday whether the county budget cuts played any role in the problems, Preckwinkle said: “As I’ve said, the problems there have to do with management,” she said.