Dec 16, 2025 By Mike Jones 5 min read

Peters Township officials are suing the Washington County coroner’s office over its refusal to turn over autopsy reports and other records to the municipality’s police department, which they claim is hampering the investigation into a baby’s death earlier this year.

John Smith, who serves as Peters Township’s solicitor, filed the lawsuit Dec. 1 asking a judge for an injunction that would require Coroner Timothy Warco to readily provide autopsy and toxicology reports to the police department without charging a $700 fee that has been his practice in recent months.

In the filing, the police department claims its investigators have been unable to review Warco’s findings after a baby died in the township in August, although it’s not known if the coroner has ruled on a cause or manner of death. Warco has previously stated that he needed police reports to help reach a conclusion. Law enforcement officials in the county have said that the coroner is not designated a criminal justice agency, and therefore has no right to review crime scene investigative materials from police departments through the Criminal History Records Information Act.

“The District Attorney, not the Coroner, is charged and entrusted with applying legal principles to deaths in order to determine whether criminal charges should be filed,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit stems from a similar attempt by Peters Township to intervene after Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh filed a motion in criminal court last month asking a judge to compel Warco’s office to hand over autopsy reports to his office and police departments investigating suspicious deaths. President Judge Valarie Costanzo denied those motions and told the parties that it was a civil matter, prompting Smith to file the lawsuit earlier this month.

The district attorney’s detectives and police officers from Washington, Canonsburg and state police were granted search warrants Nov. 5 for Warco’s row office to seize autopsy and other records investigating five deaths in Washington County. Warco had refused to release them until a $700 payment was made or because he had not concluded a manner of death in some cases since the police reports were being withheld from him, which he claims has left him in the dark and unable to make rulings without details from the investigations. Warco’s office previously claimed the $700 was to help recoup costs of autopsies and other costly components that go into a death investigation.

The filing from Peters Township takes exception with the $700 fee the coroner is trying to charge for autopsy and toxicology records, along with the assertion that the reports fall under the state’s Right To Know Law, which they do not since the state Coroner’s Act supersedes that. The Coroner’s Act states that a coroner’s office can charge non-governmental agencies the $700 fee to help recoup fees, but there is no language about charging government entities.

“The Coroner purports to have the authority to charge the District Attorney and PTPD fees for the production of autopsy reports without a statutory basis. There is no statutory ability for the Coroner to charge fees for autopsy reports to governmental agencies, and in fact, such charges are expressly prohibited,” the lawsuit states. “The Coroner’s failure to release reports until fees are paid will and has resulted in an impasse frustrating all of law enforcements’ obligations to fulfill their respective duties.”

Walsh and Warco have been at odds for the past two years, and there has been little cooperation between the two row offices that typically work in synergy with one another.

But the lawsuit also appears to offer an olive branch to Warco to navigate a fine line between producing some information to aid the coroner with his findings while protecting investigative records. The lawsuit stated that Warco’s office requested “in good faith and with good intention” investigative materials, but the township is concerned about possibly violating the state’s Criminal History Records Information Act.

“The Township and PTPD have always maintained a good working relationship with both the Coroner and the District Attorney, and have always found that the Coroner and District Attorney perform invaluable services, and are fully committed to the interest of justice and the protection of the citizens of Washington County,” the lawsuit states. “Additionally, PTPD wants to be a resource for the Coroner and to provide any and all information and reports to the extent authorized by CHRIA.”

Smith added in a written statement Monday that the township is still willing to work with Warco to find a solution to the situation.

“The township seeks to continue its longstanding and good working relationship with the Washington County district attorney and coroner, and by way of this lawsuit seeks to ensure that any and all investigations and fees assessed by the coroner are consistent with Pennsylvania statutory requirements,” he said.

Timothy Uhrich, who is the coroner’s solicitor, said the office was served last week and he is still reviewing the matter while preparing to file preliminary objections before the deadline near the end of the month.

Walsh said he expected that Peters Township would file the civil action after Costanzo denied their attempts to attach the motions to the criminal dockets during the Nov. 13 hearing.

“Obviously, it is what it is,” Walsh said. “Everyone has been saying the same thing.”

The lawsuit is asking for both preliminary and permanent injunctions requiring the coroner to turn over autopsy records and toxicology reports beginning immediately. No hearing date has been set and it’s unknown when a decision will be made or if other municipalities might join Peters Township’s effort.