WALTON COUNTY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) – Walton County is willing to pony up more money for a new regional medical examiner’s office.

Walton, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa and Escambia counties are splitting the cost. The new office will be in Santa Rosa County. The current office is in Pensacola.

The new facility will be 22,000 square feet, will have seven autopsy stations and will have a shortage of bodies for up to 75 decedents, which is more than double the space of the current facility.

He original agreement between counties required the development of a 21,865-square-foot facility with a total estimated cost of $18.65 million.

Now, the plan because the facility has changed to be 22,000 square feet and site labor and construction costs have reportedly been more expensive than originally budgeted, so each county is being asked to pay a little more. The total estimated cost is now $22.5 million.

At Tuesday’s commission meeting, county commissioners voted unanimously to do just that. Currently, the county has budgeted $1.9 million for the project in fiscal year 2025.

The cost increase would come out of fiscal year 2026, jumping $575,000 and increasing the total amount of what Walton County will contribute from $2,647,500 to $3,225,000.

Commissioners were concerned about paying a proportionate share and not more than was fair, but with the county’s population growing, it was agreed that the county would contribute a proportionate amount toward the facility.

”Walton County’s share of this would be 15%, and that’s about our number of cases. It’s a little bit higher — we’re at about 11%,” said Melissa Thomason, Walton County Chief Financial Officer. “But we are looking at a 30-year-old facility. And Walton County’s population and cases tend to increase at a slightly faster overall rate than other counties.”

The facility is expected to be completed in 2026.

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