New chief medical examiner to join Collin County starting in November

Collin County plans to hire a new chief medical examiner before the end of the year.
In mid-August, Dr. Keng-Chih “Kenny” Su, the county’s most recent chief medical examiner, left after taking the position in mid-2023, leaving the office with only one medical examiner.
Collin County hired Su in 2023, the same year Dr. William Rohr retired after more than 36 years in the position.
Last year, Su spoke with The Dallas Morning News about the efforts the county medical examiner’s office made to identify the victims of the Allen outlets shooting.
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County officials declined to answer questions related to Su’s abrupt departure. However, Su accepted an offer in September to be the chief medical examiner at the Guam Commission on Post-Mortem Examinations.
In addition to conducting death investigations, the chief medical examiner’s responsibilities include submitting the department budget, making department personnel decisions and establishing office policies and procedures.
Collin County Administrator Yoon Kim told The News a new chief medical examiner is expected to start in November.
The county, which normally has a chief medical examiner and an assistant medical examiner, tapped Dallas County resources to manage overflow cases in the meantime.
As of Sept. 26, the Dallas County medical examiner’s office had conducted 10 external exams and about 41 autopsies for Collin County, Kim said.
Although Collin County has not gotten an invoice for those services, which included autopsies and external examinations, it could be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
In September, the commissioners court approved an additional $209,150 for the medical examiner’s office budget to “cover the cost of lab services, and autopsy services with Dallas County.”
Kim said the amount approved as part of the budget amendment was an estimate.
“Collin County’s population is going up and, unfortunately, there are deaths going on and homicides, so getting a chief medical examiner will provide stability and leadership for the office,” Kim said.
At least two funeral homes in the area said they dealt with issues associated with the medical examiner’s office in recent weeks but only in a handful of cases.
Rick Allen, co-owner of Allen Family Funeral Options, said he did not experience any delays from the medical examiner’s office in recent weeks.
“We’ve had a couple of those situations where families have notified us of a death that occurred in Collin County, that would normally be a Collin County medical examiner case, but for whatever reason, their loved one had gone to Dallas County,” Allen said.
To families looking for closure after the death of a loved one, even small delays can interfere with a funeral home providing services with sensitivity and respect, said Sayda Krasovec, a funeral assistant at Charles W. Smith & Sons Funeral in McKinney.
“If it’s a cremation, for example, and we need a permit from a medical examiner but don’t have one who can sign off on it, we can’t proceed with the cremation, and they can’t have their service,” Krasovec said.
Kim said he was not aware of any complaints related to delays or interruptions stemming from the absence of a chief medical examiner.
“Once we’re fully staffed and have a leader for the department, the next step is really just maintaining excellent services,” Kim said. “We are always mindful of the metrics to see when we have to add another assistant medical examiner.”