A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to cap reimbursement by COUNTIES, TO MAKE ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO PAYMENT, for medical services provided to inmates in county jails, to allow counties to utilize medicaid for eligible prisoners, TO PROVIDE THAT VACANCIES IN THE OFFICE OF DISTRICT COURT JUDGE SHALL BE FILLED BY APPOINTMENT OF THE GOVERNOR, to require registers of deeds to maintain regular office hours, amend provisions in 2013 environmental law amendments, and to create a private right of action against notaries who violate the notary public act. 
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Article 10 of Chapter 153A of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 153A‑225.2.  Payment of medical care of prisoners.
(a)	Counties shall reimburse those providers and facilities providing requested or emergency medical care outside of the local confinement facility to prisoners or other persons under arrest by, or in the lawful custody of, county law enforcement officers the lesser amount of either a rate of seventy percent (70%) of the provider's then‑current prevailing charge or two times the then‑current Medicaid rate for any given service. Each county shall have the right to audit any provider from whom the county has received a bill for services under this section, but only to the extent necessary to determine the actual prevailing charge to ensure compliance with this section.
For the purposes of this section, "requested or emergency medical care" shall include all medically necessary and appropriate care provided to an individual from the time that individual presents to the provider or facility in the custody of county law enforcement officers until the time that the individual is safely transferred back to the care of county law enforcement officers or medically discharged to another community setting, as appropriate.
Nothing in this section shall preclude a county from contracting with a provider for services at rates that provide greater documentable cost avoidance for the county than do the rates contained in this subsection or at rates that are less favorable to the county but that will ensure the continued access to care.
(b)	No county may avoid liability for payment of medical care by discharging or otherwise releasing a prisoner or other person under arrest or in lawful custody of county law enforcement officers for the purposes of avoiding liability for payment of medical care for which the county is otherwise responsible.
(c)	The county shall make reasonable efforts to equitably distribute prisoners among all hospitals or other appropriate health care facilities located within the same county and shall do so based upon the licensed acute care bed capacity at each of the hospitals located within the same county. Counties with more than one hospital or other appropriate health care facility shall provide semiannual reports conspicuously posted on the county's Web site that detail compliance with this section, including information on the distribution of prisoner health care services among different hospitals and health care facilities."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 153A‑225(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	Each unit that operates a local confinement facility shall develop a plan for providing medical care for prisoners in the facility. The plan:
(1)	Shall be designed to protect the health and welfare of the prisoners and to avoid the spread of contagious disease;
(2)	Shall provide for medical supervision of prisoners and emergency medical care for prisoners to the extent necessary for their health and welfare;
(3)	Shall provide for the detection, examination and treatment of prisoners who are infected with tuberculosis or venereal diseases; and
(4)	May utilize Medicaid coverage for inpatient hospitalization or for any other Medicaid services allowable for eligible prisoners, provided that the plan includes a reimbursement process which pays to the State the State portion of the costs, including the costs of the services provided and any administrative costs directly related to the services to be reimbursed, to the State's Medicaid program.
The unit shall develop the plan in consultation with appropriate local officials and organizations, including the sheriff, the county physician, the local or district health director, and the local medical society. The plan must be approved by the local or district health director after consultation with the area mental health, developmental disabilities, and substance abuse authority, if it is adequate to protect the health and welfare of the prisoners. Upon a determination that the plan is adequate to protect the health and welfare of the prisoners, the plan must be adopted by the governing body.
As a part of its plan, each unit may establish fees of not more than twenty dollars ($20.00) per incident for the provision of nonemergency medical care to prisoners. In establishing fees pursuant to this section, each unit shall establish a procedure for waiving fees for indigent prisoners."
SECTION 3.  In preparation for the July 1, 2014, effective date of Section 2 of this act, the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Medical Assistance, shall work with the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners to prepare for the change to G.S. 153A‑225(a)(4) contained in Section 2 of this act. The Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Medical Assistance, shall use a uniform method, developed by the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners, which will allow all counties to interface with the Division of Medical Assistance to implement this act. The Department of Public Safety shall provide technical assistance as needed.
SECTION 4.  G.S. 7A‑142 reads as rewritten:
"§ 7A‑142.  Vacancies in office.
A vacancy in the office of district judge shall be filled for the unexpired term by appointment of the Governor. The bar of the judicial district, as defined in G.S. 84‑19, shall nominate five persons who are residents of the judicial district who are duly authorized to practice law in the district for consideration by the Governor. The nominees shall be selected by vote of only those bar members who reside in the district. In the event less than five persons are nominated, upon providing the nominations to the Governor, the bar shall certify that there were insufficient nominations in the district to comply with this section. Any vacancy shall be filled no sooner than 30 days after the vacancy occurs. Prior to filling the vacancy, the Governor shall give due consideration to the nominations provided by the bar of the judicial district."
SECTION 5.  G.S. 161‑8 is repealed.
SECTION 6.  Article 1 of Chapter 161 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 161‑8.1.  Office hours; notice of hours.
(a)	The register of deeds shall ensure that the office is open for the conduct of public business during county office workdays and hours as set by the board of county commissioners pursuant to G.S. 153A‑94(b) and shall attend at the office during those periods in person or by deputy. The register of deeds may set the hours for the registration of real estate instruments to begin not more than 30 minutes after the office opens to the public and end not more than 30 minutes before the office closes.
(b)	Notwithstanding the requirements of subsection (a) of this section, the register of deeds may temporarily close the office for a limited time with the prior approval of the board of county commissioners or county manager.
(c)	The register of deeds shall ensure that the schedule of workdays, holidays, and office hours, including the hours of real estate instrument registration, are posted prominently in the office, on a county government Web site and on the Web site established in subsection (d) of this section. Any change in schedule pursuant to action by the board of county commissioners pursuant to G.S. 153A‑94(b) or temporary closing pursuant to subsection (b) of this section that is not due to severe weather or emergency conditions shall be posted in all locations required by this subsection no less than 10 calendar days prior to the change in schedule or temporary closing. Any temporary closing due to severe weather or emergency conditions shall be posted in all locations required by this subsection as soon as practicable.
(d)	The Secretary of State shall establish a Web site and procedures for the posting of the workdays, holidays, and office hours of each county register of deeds office in the manner required by subsection (c) of this section."
SECTION 7.  If House Bill 94, 2013 Regular Session, becomes law, then G.S. 89C‑19, as amended by Section 34 of House Bill 94, reads as rewritten:
"§ 89C‑19.  Public works; requirements where public safety involved.
This State and its political subdivisions such as counties, cities, towns, or other political entities or legally constituted boards, commissions, public utility companies, or authorities, or officials, or employees of these entities shall not engage in the practice of engineering or land surveying involving either public or private property where the safety of the public is directly involved without the project being under the supervision of a professional engineer for the preparations of plans and specifications for engineering projects, or a professional land surveyor for land surveying projects, as provided for the practice of the respective professions by this Chapter. In the course of conducting the technical review of an application for a permit or a plan submitted to the entity for approval, the entity (i) shall review the application or plan solely on the basis of the application or plan's ability to satisfy the intent of the requirements of the statute, rule, standard, or criterion against which the application or plan is being evaluated and (ii) shall not require revisions to an application or plan that constitute the practice of engineering. In the course of conducting the technical review of an application or plan that is or includes elements of an innovative design, the entity may require revisions to such an application or a plan that constitutes the practice of engineering, provided the reviewer is a professional engineer. For purposes of this section, "innovative design" is considered an advanced design based on sound engineering practices that does not meet the letter of the statute, rule, standard, or criterion but meets the intent of the statute, rule, standard, or criterion.Any revisions to the application or plan that are required by the reviewing entity and that constitute the practice of engineering shall be provided by written notice to the applicant or the person submitting a plan for approval. The written notice shall be on agency letterhead and shall, in accordance with Chapter 89C of the General Statutes, be signed and sealed by the professional engineer reviewing or supervising the review of the submission, and shall include the engineer's state license number.
An official or employee of the State or any political subdivision specified in this section, holding the positions set out in this section as of June 19, 1975, shall be exempt from the provisions of this section so long as such official or employee is engaged in substantially the same type of work as is involved in the present position.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit inspection, maintenance and service work done by employees of the State of North Carolina, any political subdivision of the State, or any municipality including construction, installation, servicing, and maintenance by regular full‑time employees of, secondary roads and drawings incidental to work on secondary roads, streets, street lighting, traffic‑control signals, police and fire alarm systems, waterworks, steam, electric and sewage treatment and disposal plants, the services of superintendents, inspectors or foremen regularly employed by the State of North Carolina or any political subdivision of the State, or municipal corporation.
The provisions in this section shall not be construed to alter or modify the requirements of Article 1 of Chapter 133 of the General Statutes."
SECTION 8.  If House Bill 94, 2013 Regular Session, becomes law, then G.S. 133‑40(a), as enacted by Section 16 of House Bill 94, reads as rewritten:
"(a)	For purposes of this Article, the term "public entity" means any department or agency of the State, a State university or college, and other similar entities. For purposes of this Article, the term "public entity" shall not include municipalities, county governments, public utilities, transportation authorities, or airport authorities."
SECTION 9.  If House Bill 94, 2013 Regular Session, becomes law, then G.S. 143‑215.1(j)(3), as enacted by Section 22(a) of House Bill 94, reads as rewritten:
"(3)	A violation of any standard in groundwater occurring in the bedrock, including limestone aquifers in Coastal Plain sediments, unless it can be demonstrated that the violation will not adversely affect, or have the potential to adversely affect, a water supply well."
SECTION 10.  Part 8 of Article 1 of Chapter 10B of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 10B‑61.  Private right of action.
(a)	Any party to a transaction requiring a notarial certificate for verification, and any attorney licensed in this State who is involved in such a transaction in any capacity, whether or not the attorney is representing one of the parties to the transaction, shall have standing to bring a civil action in superior court against any public notary commissioned under this Chapter who violates the provisions of this act in connection with that transaction.
(b)	A party or attorney having standing under subsection (a) of this section may maintain an action for damages against the notary or may seek injunctive relief against the notary, or both. The action shall be brought in the county where the transaction took place, and if that cannot be determined, then the action may be filed in the Superior Court of Wake County.
(c)	The remedies available in this section are cumulative and do not affect the availability of any other sanction, remedy, or claim against a notary allowed under this Chapter or other State or federal law.
(d)	It is the intention of the General Assembly that if the provisions of this act are held invalid as a grant of an exclusive or separate emolument or privilege or as a denial of the equal protection of the laws, within the meaning of Sections 19 and 32 of Article I of the North Carolina Constitution, the remainder of this act shall be given effect without the invalid provision or provisions."
SECTION 11.  Sections 1, 3, 5, and 6 of this act become effective September 1, 2013. Section 2 of this act becomes effective July 1, 2014. Section 10 of this act is effective when it becomes law and applies to notarial acts and omissions occurring on or after that date. The remainder of this act is effective when it becomes law.