Assembly Bill 347 amends section 59.365 (3) (a) of the statutes to create an exception for certain fees charged by counties for coroner or medical examiner services. Specifically, the bill allows counties that transition from providing coroner or lay medical examiner services to physician medical examiner services between December 1, 2024, and July 1, 2025, to set the fees for signing death records and issuing cremation permits at amounts exceeding the rates in effect on April 17, 2015, by up to $100. This provision permits these fee adjustments without regard to changes in the U.S. consumer price index, which is a departure from current law that limits fee increases to the annual percentage change in the index.

Additionally, the bill specifies that this exception does not apply to counties with populations exceeding 300,000. The changes made by this bill aim to provide flexibility for counties in adjusting fees for essential services related to death records and cremation permits, particularly in light of the transition to physician medical examiner services.

Statutes affected:
Bill Text: 59.365(3)(a), 59.365