COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- It's been a violent few weekends for the Colorado Springs Police Department as they investigate multiple shooting deaths and a deadly rollover.

But before any of these cases can be ruled a homicide or an accident they've got to make it through the El Paso County Coroner's Office.

"Since I've been the coroner the workload is up 75 percent, and that's in less than five full years," Coroner Robert Bux, El Paso County Coroner, said.

From July 9-18 Bux and his team conducted 24 autopsies, continuing an eight-year increase in cases. In a department with only three forensic pathologists, including Bux, that breaks down to 300 cases for each person.

But according to the National Association of Medical Examiners if one forensic examiner hits 325 cases and stays there, the coroner's office could be at risk of losing their accreditation.

"Then it becomes an issue for the district attorney that he has to defend that we're not accredited because we've been doing too many cases," Bux said.

Losing their credentials means they lose their credibility in court. So, Bux is planning on asking the El Paso County Commissioners for an additional forensic pathologist in the 2012 budget.

An increase in personnel could be the perfect solution to the constant increase in their workload. Besides criminal death investigations, the coroner also has the only on-site forensic toxicology lab. The department does 75 percent of the toxicology reports for the rest of the state.