AUGUSTA, Ga. – By law Richmond County is required to provide a place to bury unclaimed bodies

That place is called a “poor mans” or paupers cemetery. Westview Cemetery holds Richmond County's unclaimed bodies.

Richmond County Coroner Grover Tuten is in charge of the burials.

"The coroner's office has buried 11 so far this year," Tuten said.

Tuten has seen more than his share of death as coroner for the past 30 years.

“If we can find no next of kin then we will bury the body in the paupers grave," Tuten said.

Each burial costs Richmond County tax payers $500 dollars. So Tuten tries to keep the burials as simple as possible.

"We put a vault in the ground, put the body in the vault and say a few words over it and have a nice Christian funeral,” Tuten said.

Tuten says Richmond County's high homeless rate is part of the problem.

“More and more people are homeless. There are vagabonds in transit,” Tuten said.

Currently 23 people are buried in unmarked graves, because no one was left to pay for flowers, a burial or even a grave stone.

However, Tuten says there are some people who try to take advantage of Richmond County's system.

"We've had numerous calls of people saying my aunt died, I don't have insurance and then you go check on them and you see them sitting in front of a 46 inch screen color TV with a new car in the yard," Tuten said.

Tuten says all family members who claim they don't have insurance or money to pay for a funeral are put through a background and credit check.

"I got to look at the economics of it, the tax payers are buying these folks and it isn't fair," Tuten said.

Tuten says the cemetery was planned to last 15 years, but at the current rate he expects it to barely last 10.

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