Berrien County could be looking for a new medical examiner.

Speaking at Thursday’s regular meeting of the Berrien County Board of Commissioners, Commissioner Jim Curran said the county Administration Committee this week heard from Prosecutor Amy Byrd, who said there have been some problems lately with service provided by the WMed at Western Michigan University.

“When they have a doctor who’s hired by WMed do an autopsy for us that might be a criminal case and then leaves the employ of WMed and that case goes to trial, that doctor is now subpoenaed as a non-WMed employee,” Curran said. “So in other words, they are not bound by any of their rules and regulations. So, what they’re doing is they are billing the prosecutor’s office as an expert witness.”

Byrd told the committee she’s got a $17,000 bill for just that sitting on her desk.

Curran said another problem has been former WMed doctors have been dodging subpoenas, which can lead to the dismissal of criminal cases. Plus, the lab service WMed has been using is located out of state and Byrd would rather something more local be used.

Curran said Byrd will be talking with County Administrator Brian Dissette about possible alternatives to WMed. He wondered if Andrews University could help with some of those tasks. Board Chair Mac Elliott also wondered if new language could simply be inserted into the agreement with WMED to resolve the issues cited by Byrd.