Will County Coroner Reports Nearly 8,000 Death Investigations in 2025

Will County Board Executive Committee Meeting | June 11, 2026

Article Summary: Will County Coroner Laurie Summers presented her 2025 annual report to the Executive Committee on Thursday, June 11, 2026, detailing 7,992 death investigations and cost-saving review practices, before a procedural disagreement over whether the report should go to the full County Board.

Coroner’s Annual Report Key Points:

• The coroner’s office logged 7,992 total death investigations in 2025 and signed 669 death certificates.
• The office recorded 6 homicides, 74 suicides, 257 accidental deaths and 314 natural-death cases, performing 466 autopsies.
• Summers said record reviews in 271 cases avoided autopsies and saved roughly $392,000.
• Member Julie Berkowicz pushed for the annual report to be presented to the full County Board; Speaker Joe VanDuyne declined.

WILL COUNTY — Will County Coroner Laurie Summers delivered her 2025 annual report to the Will County Board Executive Committee on Thursday, June 11, 2026, walking members through a year of nearly 8,000 death investigations and a series of practices her office uses to control costs.

The report, listed as item 26-4959, recorded 7,992 total investigations, including 6,235 hospice-related investigations, and 669 death certificates signed by the coroner. Among 668 completed cases, the office classified 314 as natural, 257 as accidental, 74 as suicides, 17 as undetermined and 6 as homicides. The office performed 466 autopsies and conducted more than 3,000 cremation permit reviews while fielding 1,172 Freedom of Information Act requests.

Summers emphasized that every death is approached case by case and that the office never assumes a cause. She offered examples of deaths that initially appeared natural but proved otherwise, including a 94-year-old woman whose petechial hemorrhaging revealed she had been suffocated by a family member, and an 82-year-old hospice patient found outside who required a full autopsy. “You never, ever, ever assume,” she said.

The coroner also described cost-saving measures. In 271 cases, she said, her office conducted record reviews in lieu of autopsy — examining medical records and subpoenaed documentation rather than performing surgical examinations — a practice she said saved roughly $392,000. She also detailed a hospice death-investigation protocol that, by catching deaths legally tied to earlier traumatic injuries, spared 67 families in 2025 from having to amend death certificates after the fact.

Responding to questions from members Kelly Hickey, Sherry Newquist and Mica Freeman, Summers detailed her office’s call volume, reporting 35,126 incoming calls to office landlines, 60,516 voice calls to staff work phones and 20,505 text messages over the year.

The presentation ended in a procedural disagreement. Member Julie Berkowicz said the coroner’s report has traditionally gone before the full County Board and asked that the practice resume, or that a committee of the whole hear it, so every board member could participate. Speaker Joe VanDuyne declined, saying he has worked to move information into committee meetings and streamline full-board sessions that can run four to seven hours. “I respect your opinion,” VanDuyne said, but “as far as I’m the speaker, I will continue to do it this way.” Berkowicz said she would continue to raise the issue.

This article discusses death investigation in a public-records context. If you or someone you know is struggling, support resources are available, and I can help locate them.