At the District One Medical Examiner Services (DOMES) board’s meeting in December, legislative funding for a new facility was a big topic of concern. Dan Schebler, director of operations for DOMES, proposed taking the interlocal agreement the counties had put to the wayside and bringing it forward to Northwest Florida’s legislators with a $3 million buy-in from each county as had been discussed in July 2022.
Over the past couple of months since that meeting, the DOMES board has met monthly to try and hammer out a plan for the upcoming legislative session, which is set to begin March 7. The legislative session is important as DOMES is looking for matching state funding for a proposed facility in Santa Rosa County.
On March 1, the DOMES board met to decide what the interlocal agreement would look like and who would be a part of it. They also discussed potential changes to the size and scope of a new facility.