MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) - After approval from Milwaukee County, the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office can pursue legal action for funeral homes who owe them tens of thousands of dollars.

The ME’s office has a list of 18 funeral homes who are in debt over $25,000.

“There are funeral homes on that list that are in good standing, that there’s no action that would ever be taken,” Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office Operations Manager Timothy Schabo said. 

CBS 58

Schabo says one funeral home owes over $500,000, and seven owe more than $100,000.

“It’s on all of the players in the field, including us and the funeral homes, to make sure that those families feel taken care of,” Schabo said.

Rozga Funeral and Cremation Services is on the list.

“You see something like that, it's very disheartening,” owner John Rozga said. “I can run up medical examiner fees quickly in a month, so it’s gonna fluctuate from month to month.”

Rozga says the funeral home is closer to the $25,000 debt range, and that being around there is normal due to delays in payments and state programs.

“That can be a delay, is just the process of getting that application done, getting it submitted, getting approved by the state and then letting the medical examiner office know that the state will be taking care of those expenses. That can take time,” Rozga said.

The funeral home can often turn into the middleman for payments from the family to the medical examiner.

“We’ve been in business for 128 years, and the reason we’ve been in business is because our reputation has always been kept very clean," Rozga said.