Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

H.B. 651
                          GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
                                                                                            Apr 17, 2023
                                      SESSION 2023                                    HOUSE PRINCIPAL CLERK
     H                                                                                               D
                                  HOUSE BILL DRH10333-MGa-116
     Short Title:   South Piedmont Regional Autopsy Center/Funds.                              (Public)
     Sponsors:      Representative Willis.
     Referred to:
                                   A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 AN ACT APPROPRIATING FUNDS FOR OPERATIONAL COSTS AND EQUIPMENT
     ASSOCIATED WITH THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A COUNTY-OPERATED
     REGIONAL AUTOPSY CENTER IN UNION COUNTY SERVING THE SOUTH
     PIEDMONT REGION OF THE STATE.
 The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
              SECTION 1.(a) 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
 (OCME), the sum of two million dollars ($2,000,000) in recurring funds for the 2023-2024 fiscal
 year and the sum of two million dollars ($2,000,000) in recurring funds for the 2024-2025 fiscal
 year to be allocated to Union County for operational costs and equipment associated with the
 establishment of a county-operated regional autopsy center serving the following areas:
              (1)   Anson County.
              (2)   Cabarrus County.
              (3)   Montgomery County.
              (4)   Richmond County.
              (5)   Stanly County.
              (6)   Union County.
              SECTION 1.(b) Union County shall notify the Department of Health and Human
 Services, the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services, and the
 Fiscal Research Division when the regional autopsy center funded by this section becomes
 operational. Upon receiving this notification, the OCME shall enter into a contract with Union
 County pursuant to which (i) the regional autopsy center funded by this section agrees to provide
 independent forensic pathology services in the counties specified by subsection (a) of this section
 and (ii) the OCME agrees to reimburse Union County for each autopsy performed by the regional
 autopsy center in an amount equivalent to the fee authorized by G.S. 130A-389.
              SECTION 1.(c) By December 1, 2023, and December 1, 2024, Union County shall
 submit a progress report to the Department of Health and Human Services, the Joint Legislative
 Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services, and the Fiscal Research Division on the
 status and operation of the regional autopsy center funded by this section.
              SECTION 2. This act becomes effective July 1, 2023.
                                 *DRH10333-MGa-116*