A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to reform the north carolina medical examiner system by (1) establishing a regional office structure; (2) requiring THE office of the chief medical examiner (ocme) to obtain AND MAINTAIN national accreditation; (3) ESTABLISHING MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS, continuing education requirements, AND training REQUIREMENTS FOR PERSONNEL CONDUCTING DEATH INVESTIGATIONS AND AUTOPSIES; (4) INCREASING THE NUMBER OF FULL‑TIME EQUIVALENT POSITIONS within OCME DEDICATED TO PERFORMING and assisting with DEATH INVESTIGATIONS and autopsies; (5) APPROPRIATING FUNDS TO IMPLEMENT THESE REFORMS; and (6) establishing reporting requirements to monitor the status of reform implementation.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

PART I.  ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGES
SECTION 1.  G.S. 130A‑377 reads as rewritten:
"§ 130A‑377.  Establishment and maintenance of regional offices.
The Department shall establish and maintain five regional offices, including a central office, with appropriate facilities and personnel, to ensure that postmortem medicolegal examinations and services are available and properly managed in all regions of the State."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 130A‑378 reads as rewritten:
"§ 130A‑378.  Appointment and qualifications of the Chief Medical Examiner.
The Secretary shall appoint the Chief Medical Examiner. The Chief Medical Examiner shall be a forensic pathologist certified by the American Board of Pathology and licensed to practice medicine. In order to maintain this appointment, the Chief Medical Examiner shall fulfill the continuing education requirements of G.S. 130A‑382 and carry out the duties and responsibilities set forth in this Article and as assigned by the Secretary."
SECTION 3.  G.S. 130A‑379 reads as rewritten:
"§ 130A‑379.  Duties and powers of the Chief Medical Examiner.
(a)	The Chief Medical Examiner shall do all of the following:
(1)	Ensure that the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner obtains and maintains accreditation by the National Association of Medical Examiners or an alternative national entity approved by the Secretary that accredits postmortem medicolegal examination services.
(2)	Perform postmortem medicolegal examinations as provided in this Part. The Chief Medical Examiner may, upon request, provide instruction in health science, legal medicine and other subjects related to the duties of the Chief Medical Examiner at The University of North Carolina, the North Carolina Justice Academy and other institutions of higher learning.
(3)	Perform autopsies as provided in this Part, provided, however, that the Chief Medical Examiner may not perform more than 100 autopsies per year.
(b)	Except as restricted in subdivision (a)(3) of this section, the Chief Medical Examiner may assume primary responsibility for any case under the jurisdiction of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner or appoint another medical examiner to do so."
SECTION 4.  G.S. 130A‑380 reads as rewritten:
"§ 130A‑380.  The Chief Medical Examiner's staff.
(a)	The Chief Medical Examiner shall employ the following staff in each of the regional offices:
(1)	Board certified forensic pathologists, who shall perform no more than 100 autopsies each per year.
(2)	medical examiners, who shall perform duties assigned by the Chief Medical Examiner.
(3)	Medicolegal death investigators, who shall assist the Chief Medical Examiner and medical examiners in the performance of their assigned duties.
(4)	Administrative personnel, who shall provide administrative assistance to the Chief Medical Examiner, medical examiners, and certified medicolegal death investigators.
(b)	The Chief Medical Examiner may employ forensic chemists to provide toxicological and related support to the regional offices."
SECTION 5.  G.S. 130A‑382 reads as rewritten:
"§ 130A‑382.  County medical examiners; qualifications, training, and continuing education.
(a)	In hiring medical examiners for each regional office, the Chief Medical Examiner shall give preference to physicians licensed to practice medicine in this State but may also hire licensed physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, or emergency medical technician‑paramedics.
(b)	The Department shall establish annual continuing education requirements for medical examiners employed by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. In establishing these requirements, the Department shall require that at least X hours of the total required continuing education hours consist of a Department‑approved course specifically designed to address best practices in conducting postmortem medicolegal examinations as well as a review of the laws relating to the duties of a medical examiner under the North Carolina Medical Examiner System. No person shall continue employment with the Office of the Medical Examiner as a medical examiner unless that person completes the continuing education and training requirements established by the Department pursuant to this section.
(c)	The Department shall develop and administer a mandatory, annual in‑service training program for medical examiners. The in‑service training program shall provide refresher instruction on (i) the process for certifying deaths in this State, (ii) the process for conducting postmortem medicolegal examinations in this State, including instruction on how best to perform these examinations in cooperation with law enforcement officials, particularly at fatal injury scenes and crime scenes, and (iii) other subjects related to the duties of a medical examiner.
(d)	Each medical examiner shall be assigned to a specific regional office, and shall primarily handle cases and perform duties within that region, but may handle cases or perform duties within other regions as directed by the Chief Medical Examiner. The Chief Medical Examiner shall base the number of medical examiners assigned to each regional office on the total population of each region."
SECTION 6.(a)  Article 16 of Chapter 130A of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 130A‑382A.  Medicolegal death investigators; duties; qualifications; certification; continuing education.
(a)	The Chief Medical Examiner shall assign medicolegal death investigators to each of the regional offices. Their primary responsibility shall be to assist medical examiners with postmortem medicolegal examinations within their assigned region. Medicolegal death investigators may assist medical examiners outside their region as directed by the Chief Medical Examiner to balance workload. The Chief Medical Examiner shall base the number of medicolegal death investigators assigned to each regional office on the total population of each region.
(b)	No person shall commence employment with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner as a medicolegal death investigator unless that person meets all of the following qualifications:
(1)	Is at least 21 years old.
(2)	Provides a satisfactory criminal background report from the State Repository of Criminal Histories, which shall be provided by the State Bureau of Investigation upon its receiving fingerprints from the applicant. If the applicant has been a resident of this State for less than five years, the applicant shall provide a satisfactory criminal background report from both the State and National Repositories of Criminal Histories.
(3)	Holds an associate degree or higher in a medical field from an accredited college, community college, or university or previously served as a coroner in this State.
(c)	No person shall continue employment with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner as a medicolegal death investigator unless that person successfully completes the certification program established by the Department pursuant to subsection (d) of this section within six months from the date of hire.
(d)	The Department shall establish a certification program for medicolegal death investigators. To obtain and maintain certification as a medicolegal death investigator under this program, an applicant shall meet the following minimum requirements:
(1)	Obtain initial board certification from the American Board of Medicolegal Investigators within six months from the date of hire and maintain that certification for the duration of employment with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
(2)	Complete the annual in‑service training requirements established pursuant to G.S. 130A‑380(c).
(3)	Meet any additional requirements established by the Department."
SECTION 6.(b)  Notwithstanding the provisions of G.S. 130A‑382A, as enacted by this act, any person hired into the position of a medicolegal death investigator between July 1, 2015, and July 1, 2019, who previously served as a coroner in this State, shall have two years from the date of hire to successfully complete the certification program established by the Department pursuant to G.S. 130A‑382A(d), as amended by this act.
SECTION 7.  G.S. 130A‑383 reads as rewritten:
"§ 130A‑383.  Medical examiner jurisdiction.
(a)	Upon the death of any person, the physician in attendance, hospital employee, law enforcement officer, funeral home employee, emergency medical technician, relative, or any other person having suspicion that the death occurred under any of the following circumstances shall notify the regional office closest to where the body of the deceased is found:
(1)	Death resulting from violence.
(2)	Death resulting from poisoning.
(3)	Death resulting from accident.
(4)	Death resulting from suicide or homicide.
(5)	Death occurring suddenly when the deceased had been in apparent good health.
(6)	Death unattended by a physician.
(7)	Death occurring in a jail, prison, correctional institution, or in police custody.
(8)	Death occurring in State facilities operated in accordance with Part 5 of Article 4 of Chapter 122C of the General Statutes.
(9)	Death occurring pursuant to Article 19 of Chapter 15 of the General Statutes.
(10)	Death occurring under any suspicious, unusual, or unnatural circumstance.
(a1)	No person shall disturb the body at the scene of a death in any of the circumstances described in subsection (a) of this section until authorized by the medical examiner unless in the unavailability of the medical examiner it is determined by the appropriate law enforcement agency that the presence of the body at the scene would risk the integrity of the body or provide a hazard to the safety of others.
(a2)	For the limited purposes of this Part, expression of opinion that death has occurred may be made by a nurse, an emergency medical technician or any other competent person in the absence of a physician.
(b)	The discovery of anatomical material suspected of being part of a human body shall be reported to the medical examiner of the county in which the material is found.
(c)	Upon completion of the investigation and in accordance with the rules of the Commission, the medical examiner shall release the body to the next of kin or other interested person who will assume responsibility for final disposition."
SECTION 8.  G.S. 130A‑385 reads as rewritten:
"§ 130A‑385.  Duties of medical examiner and medicolegal death investigator upon receipt of notice; reports; copies.
(a)	Upon receipt of a notification under G.S. 130A‑383, the medical examiner or a medicolegal death investigator working under the supervision of a medical examiner shall report to the scene, take charge of the body, make inquiries regarding the cause and manner of death, reduce the findings to writing and promptly make a full report to the Chief Medical Examiner on forms prescribed for that purpose.
(a1)	The Chief Medical Examiner, a medical examiner, or a medicolegal death investigator working under the supervision of a medical examiner is authorized to do all of the following:
(1)	Inspect and copy the medical records of the decedent whose death is under investigation.
(2)	In an investigation conducted pursuant to this Article, inspect all physical evidence and documents which may be relevant to determining the cause and manner of death of the person whose death is under investigation, including decedent's personal possessions associated with the death, clothing, weapons, tissue and blood samples, cultures, medical equipment, X rays and other medical images.
(3)	Seek an administrative search warrant pursuant to G.S. 15‑27.2 for the purpose of carrying out the duties imposed under this Article. In addition to the requirements of G.S. 15‑27.2, no administrative search warrant shall be issued pursuant to this section unless the Chief Medical Examiner, a medical examiner, or a medicolegal death investigator submits an affidavit from the office of the district attorney in the district in which death occurred stating that the death in question is not under criminal investigation.
(a2)	The Chief Medical Examiner shall provide directions as to the nature, character and extent of an investigation and appropriate forms for the required reports. The facilities of the regional offices and their staff services shall be available to the medical examiners and designated pathologists in their investigations.
(b)	The medical examiner shall complete a certificate of death, stating the name of the disease which in the opinion of the medical examiner caused death. If the death was from external causes, the medical examiner shall state on the certificate of death the means of death, and whether, in the medical examiner's opinion, the manner of death was accident, suicide, homicide, execution by the State, or undetermined. The medical examiner shall also furnish any information as may be required by the State Registrar of Vital Statistics in order to properly classify the death. The medical examiner shall not delegate these duties to medicolegal death investigators.
(c)	The Chief Medical Examiner shall have authority to amend a medical examiner death certificate.
(d)	A copy of the report of the medical examiner investigation may be forwarded to the appropriate district attorney.
(e)	In cases where death occurred due to an injury received in the course of the decedent's employment, the Chief Medical Examiner shall forward to the Commissioner of Labor a copy of the medical examiner's report of the investigation, including the location of the fatal injury and the name and address of the decedent's employer at the time of the fatal injury. The Chief Medical Examiner shall forward this report within 30 days of receipt of the information from the medical examiner.
(f)	If a death occurred in a facility licensed subject to Article 2 or Article 3 of Chapter 122C of the General Statutes, or Articles 1 or 1A of Chapter 131D of the General Statutes, and the deceased was a client or resident of the facility or a recipient of facility services at the time of death, then the Chief Medical Examiner shall forward a copy of the medical examiner's report to the Secretary of Health and Human Services within 30 days of receipt of the report from the medical examiner."

PART II.  CHANGES TO MEDICAL EXAMINER INVESTIGATION AND AUTOPSY FEES.
SECTION 9.(a)  G.S. 130A‑387 reads as rewritten:
"§ 130A‑387.  Fees.
(a)	For each investigation and prompt filing of the required report, the medical examiner shall receive a fee paid by the State. However, if the deceased is a resident of the county in which the death or fatal injury occurred, that county shall pay the fee. The fee shall be two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00). 
(b)	The fee established in subsection (a) of this section does not apply to investigations and reports completed by employees of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. To the maximum extent possible, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner shall use its own employees to complete these investigations and required reports."
SECTION 9.(b)  Section 9(a) applies to medical examiner investigations and reports completed and filed on or after July 1, 2015.
SECTION 9.(c)  G.S. 130A‑387, as amended by this act, is repealed effective July 1, 2019.
SECTION 10.(a)  G.S. 130A‑389 reads as rewritten:
"§ 130A‑389.  Autopsies.
(a)	If, in the opinion of the medical examiner investigating the case or of the Chief Medical Examiner, it is advisable and in the public interest that an autopsy or other study be made; or, if an autopsy or other study is requested by the district attorney of the county or by any superior court judge, an autopsy or other study shall be made by the Chief Medical Examiner or by a competent pathologist designated by the Chief Medical Examiner. A complete autopsy report of findings and interpretations, prepared on forms designated for the purpose, shall be submitted promptly to the Chief Medical Examiner. Subject to the limitations of G.S. 130A‑389.1 relating to photographs and video or audio recordings of an autopsy, a copy of the report shall be furnished to any person upon request. A fee for the autopsy or other study shall be paid by the State. However, if the deceased is a resident of the county in which the death or fatal injury occurred, that county shall pay the fee. The fee shall be two thousand eight hundred dollars ($2,800).
(b)	The fee established in subsection (a) of this section does not apply to autopsies or other studies performed by employees of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. To the maximum extent possible, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner shall use its own employees to complete these autopsies and other studies."
SECTION 10.(b)  Subsection (a) of this section applies to autopsies and other studies authorized by G.S. 130A‑389, as amended by this act, that are completed and filed on or after July 1, 2015.
SECTION 10.(c)  G.S. 130A‑389, as amended by this act, is repealed effective July 1, 2019.

PART III.  STATUS REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGES.
SECTION 11.  It is the intent of the General Assembly that the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner begin to implement the organizational changes set forth in this act as soon as possible in order to achieve full implementation by July 1, 2019. To that end, beginning January 2016, and every six months thereafter until full implementation, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner shall provide status reports to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services and the Fiscal Research Division on at least all of the following:
(1)	Efforts and results regarding attainment of national accreditation pursuant to G.S. 130A‑382, as amended by this act.
(2)	The number of filled and vacant full‑time equivalent forensic pathologist positions.
(3)	The number of filled and vacant full‑time equivalent medical examiner positions.
(4)	The number of filled and vacant full‑time equivalent medicolegal death investigator positions.
(5)	The number of forensic pathology fellows at the regional autopsy centers located at Wake Forest University and East Carolina University, and the number of fellows retained as employees of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner following completion of the fellowship.
(6)	The development of continuing education and in‑service training requirements for medical examiners.
(7)	The development of a certification program and any training requirements for medicolegal death investigators.
(8)	Any obstacles or concerns regarding full implementation of these organizational changes by July 1, 2019.

PART III.  APPROPRIATIONS
SECTION 12.(a)  Additional Full‑Time Equivalent Positions. – There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health, Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, the sum of __ ($) for the 2015‑2016 fiscal year and the sum of __ ($) for the 2016‑2017 fiscal year to establish the following positions within the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner:
(1)	The sum of __ ($) to establish __ full‑time equivalent forensic pathologist positions.
(2)	The sum of __ ($) to establish __ full‑time equivalent medical examiner positions.
(3)	The sum of __ ($) to establish __ full‑time equivalent certified medicolegal death investigator positions.
Notwithstanding any provision of Article 16 of Chapter 130A of the General Statutes or any provision of this act, the Chief Medical Examiner may initiate hiring to fill these positions as soon as the funds appropriated in this subsection become available.
SECTION 12.(b)  Forensic Pathologist Fellowships. – There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health, Office of the Chief Medical Examiner System, the sum of __ ($) for the 2015‑2016 fiscal year and the sum of ___($) for the 2016‑2017 fiscal year to establish one forensic pathologist fellowship each at the State's regional autopsy centers located at Wake Forest University and East Carolina University. The purpose of these fellowships is to enhance the ability of the State's regional autopsy centers to recruit and retain board‑certified forensic pathologists. As a condition of receiving a fellowship, the recipient shall commit to practicing in one of the State's regional autopsy centers for a minimum of ___ years following completion of the fellowship.
SECTION 12.(c)  Increased Death Investigation Fee. – There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health, Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, the sum of __ ($) for the 2015‑2016 fiscal year and the sum of __ ($) for the 2016‑2017 fiscal year to increase the death investigation and report fee paid by the State and counties pursuant to G.S. 130A‑387, as amended by this act, from one hundred dollars ($100.00) to two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00).
SECTION 12.(d)  Increased Autopsy Fee. – There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health, Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, the sum of __ ($) for the 2015‑2016 fiscal year and the sum of __ ($) for the 2016‑2017 fiscal year to increase the autopsy fee paid by the State and counties pursuant to G.S. 130A‑389, as amended by this act, from one thousand two hundred fifty dollars ($1,250) to two thousand eight hundred dollars ($2,800).

PART IV.  EFFECTIVE DATE
SECTION 13.  Sections 6(b), 9(a), 9(b), 10(a), 10(b), 11, 12(a), 12(b), 12(c), and 12(d) of this act become effective July 1, 2015. The remainder of this act becomes effective July 1, 2019.