GEORGETOWN, Texas (KXAN) — Valerie Alvarez has been on the job for six months. She's one of four new death investigators hired by Williamson County to help Justice of the Peace judges determine cause and manner of death and juggle court dockets.
"We're kind of the eyes and the ears for the judges," Alvarez said. "I'm going to collect and get whatever information I can get to provide it to the Justice of the Peace, so that way they can make the best decision for our county."
Alvarez explained that includes filtering calls that come from law enforcement or hospitals, then determining next steps.
Williamson County's new death investigators left to right: Kaylin Gravatt, Valerie Alvarez, Ruben Leal, and Sandy Call. (Courtesy Ruben Leal)The county budgeted for the positions last year as a solution to the growing population boom and complex death cases since it has no medical examiner of its own.
"You can expect calls at all times," Alvarez said of her weeks on call. "We will attend scenes on occasion. And then we relay all the information back to our Justices of the Peace."
Bridging a gap
The death investigators now each work for one of the county's four Justices of the Peace to help take death calls, go to crime scenes, prepare reports — including medical records requests — and talking to families and law enforcement. Before they got the jobs — all of that fell to the judges on top of hearing cases in their courtrooms.
EXPLORE: A Hanging on Backbone Creek"To be able to provide individuals that have the experience to help them and to just lessen that load just a little bit, I think, is invaluable to a county that's growing like this," Alvarez explained.
Williamson County Justices of the Peace left to right: Judge KT Musselman, Judge Angela Williams, Judge Evelyn McLean, and Judge Rhonda Redden. (KXAN Photo/Arezow Doost)The judges rule on everything from homicides to death from natural causes, and ultimately sign death certificates. If a case needs additional investigation, they request an autopsy from either a local, private forensics firm — or the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office.
"It's a very in-depth investigation that's being done, and so we're able to provide answers to those families and those citizens that are having one of the worst days of their life whenever they lose a loved one," said County Manager Rebecca Clemons, who oversees the death inquest investigator unit.
Clemons added that what makes the team unique is that they all have forensic experience — about 30 years combined — and have worked at a medical examiner's office.
Clemons also explained that hiring the death investigators bridges a gap until the county establishes its own medical examiner's office. It's what the judges have long been pushing for as they tackled growing court dockets and complex death cases.
Alvarez works with Justice of the Peace Angela Williams in Precinct 2. The two are on call for a full week each a month and cover the entire county. On a busy week, they've had up to 35 death cases, Alvarez explained. The county has anticipated an around 25% increase in death investigations this year — about 1,500 inquests.
Despite the added staff, the judges shared in a joint statement with KXAN that the "time demands on Justices of the Peace related to death inquest matters have not decreased in the way originally envisioned."
"With the recent hiring of death investigators in January 2025, we had hoped to see a meaningful reduction in the time judges must devote to inquest-related duties," wrote the judges in their statement. "The intent was to allow us more time to focus on our court dockets, including civil and criminal cases, truancy, and administrative cases, all essential to maintaining the rule of law in our communities. Unfortunately, that goal has not been realized."
Letter from Williamson County Justices of the PeaceDownload RELATED: Williamson County approves additional funding for death investigatorsThe judges said they "remain committed to working collaboratively with county leadership to pursue a long-term, sustainable model that ensures both judicial efficiency and the highest standards of medicolegal investigation."
William County Senior Death Inquest Investigator Valerie Alvarez. (KXAN Photo/Arezow Doost) Williamson County death investigators were hired to help Justice of the Peace judges with growing death cases. (KXAN Photo/Arezow Doost)The judges explained to KXAN investigators that model could include a medical examiner's office or restructuring of the death investigator program. The county said it's working through challenges that come up by continuing to have conversations and meetings with the death investigators and judges.
"I think anytime you start a new program or process, there's a lot of training at the front of it. You're trying to figure out forms and workflows and get to know law enforcement agencies and hospitals and funeral homes and other groups like that. And so, there's going to be a time where, in my opinion, the workload is actually going to increase, because you're trying to get somebody integrated into a process," said Clemons, adding that she expects things to flow more seamlessly as the training completes and death investigators learn the county better.
County looks to future
Clemons said her hope is for the death investigators to be a model for other counties in a similar situation with a growing population. Alvarez said it's been a learning process for the death investigators.
"A lot of the learning curve came from learning the Justice of the Peace system and how they do things and incorporating what we do and meshing it all together," Alvarez explained. "We're learning so much about each other and the roles that we can each play to better serve our communities."
The county has already locked in a location in north Austin for a medical examiner's office. Clemons said it's still in the early stages and that the Commissioners Court has not yet discussed any timelines.
Williamson County purchased last year just over 28 acres in north Austin for future location of medical examiner's office. (KXAN Photo/Richie Bowes)Texas law requires counties to establish a medical examiner's office when the population hits 2.5 million, but a county commissioners court may create one at any time.
Williamson County locks in location for future Medical Examiner’s officeEfforts were underway during the 2025 legislative session to establish more medical examiner offices after KXAN's "A Hanging on Backbone Creek" investigation, which revealed that only 14 out of 254 counties have medical examiner's offices.
House Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, plans to keep pushing for an interim study to look at how Texas can attract more medical examiners during a time when there is a nationwide shortage.
“We just need more people who are specialized in this work, and creating an incentive program makes total sense,” Anchia previously told KXAN.
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