Dead Broke & Dead

Photo of John Lantz, President, FCAGa

Counties Must Bury the Poorest Dead

Digging into Where the Money Goes

I filed a public records request with DeKalb County launching a county-by-county analysis of the Georgia Indigent Burial program.

 We Do Not Leave Dead Bodies Lying Around

We do not just leave dead human bodies lying around. They must go somewhere. Even when the deceased has no known identity, no money, or was on public assistance. SOMEBODY does SOMETHING with dead human bodies. Who does it and what is done, I ask. 

I started digging for information. Here is a Georgia law I found:

Georgia Code § 36-12-5 — Interment or cremation of deceased indigents

“Whenever any person dies in this state and the decedent, his or her family, and his or her immediate kindred are indigent and unable to provide for the decedent’s decent interment or cremation, the governing authority of the county wherein the death occurs shall make available from county funds a sum sufficient to provide a decent interment or cremation of the deceased indigent person….”

Bottom line: die poor, with no family able to pay, and the county where you died is required by law to provide a decent burial or cremation. Georgia calls it the Indigent Burial (GIB) program. All 159 Georgia counties are supposed to have one.

Learn more about the Georgia Indigent Burial program at FCAGa.org

How Do Georgia’s Counties Run Their Indigent Burial Programs?

FCAGa has launched a project to find out how every county in Georgia actually runs its indigent burial program. Are they following the law? Are the families who need help getting it? How much is being spent — and on what?

I started in DeKalb County, one of Georgia’s largest counties and part of the Atlanta metro area — where I live.

I looked and did not find any specific reference on the internet to a county indigent burial program in DeKalb County. So, I filed an Open Records Request — a formal legal ask that governments in Georgia are required by law to answer.

I Asked for GIB Budget Specifics 

I requested budgeted amounts and amounts paid on the Indigent Burial Program and the Indigent Burial Assistance Program to the funeral homes and crematories. Specifically:

Budgeted amounts for the Indigent Burial Program

Budgeted amounts for the Indigent Burial Assistance Program

Amounts actually paid out to funeral homes and crematories

 

I Learned DeKalb County’s Annual Budget for GIB

And what I got back appears to show an annual budget for just DeKalb County of:

$1,598,200

Why It Matters: For Many Over 65 y.o. GIB May Be the Only Option

There is a lot more to be learned. About 1 in 4 people over 65 would have to borrow money or sell something to raise $400 in an emergency. The average cremation costs about $2,200.

For those families, the Indigent Burial program may be the only option. That is why it matters who is running these programs, how they run them, and whether the families who need help can actually get it.

Need guidance on requesting indigent burial help in Georgia? See the FCAGa Indigent Burial Guidelines.

So, I am just getting started.

Got a Story or Question?

Email me: president@fcaga.org

John Lantz

President, Funeral Consumers Alliance of GA, Inc. www.FCAGa.org 

This is Part 1 in FCAGa’s ongoing series reviewing Georgia’s Indigent Burial Program, county by county. Watch for future reports