AN ACT to require that apparent suicides are fully investigated and reviewed before the manner of death is officially determined as SUICIDE, to increase the fees for medical examiner investigations and reports, and to appropriate funds for the increase in county medical examiner fees.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

part i. require full investigations for apparent suicides

SECTION 1.(a)  Article 1 of Chapter 15 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:

§ 15‑7.1.  Postmortem investigations required; apparent suicide.

(a)        Applicability. – This section applies to cases where the initial manner of death appears to be suicide.

(b)        Investigation Required. – No manner of death shall be officially determined as suicide until a full investigation into the circumstances of death has been conducted and documented, including completion of all of the following, subject to the provisions of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution relating to unreasonable searches and seizures:

(1)        Interviews or attempted interviews of any individuals present at or connected to the scene of death.

(2)        Gunshot residue testing or attempted gunshot residue testing on any individuals present at the scene of death if firearms were involved.

(3)        The county medical examiner's duties pursuant to Article 16 of Chapter 130A of the General Statutes.

SECTION 1.(b)  G.S. 130A‑385 reads as rewritten:

§ 130A‑385.  Duties of medical examiner upon receipt of notice; reports; copies.

…

(b)        The medical examiner shall complete a certificate of death, stating the name of the disease that, 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.

(b1)      Notwithstanding subsection (b) of this section, the Chief Medical Examiner or the county medical examiner shall not officially determine the manner of death to be suicide until a full investigation has been conducted and documented pursuant to G.S. 15‑7.1.

….

SECTION 1.(c)  This Part is effective when it becomes law and applies to deaths that occur on or after that date.

part ii. increase fees paid to county medical examiners

SECTION 2.(a)  G.S. 130A‑387 reads as rewritten:

§ 130A‑387.  Fees.

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 dollars ($200.00).four hundred dollars ($400.00).

SECTION 2.(b)  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 five hundred seventy‑nine thousand dollars ($579,000) in recurring funds beginning in the 2026‑2027 fiscal year to increase the medical examiner fee authorized by G.S. 130A‑387 from two hundred dollars ($200.00) to four hundred dollars ($400.00) per investigation and report, effective July 1, 2026.

SECTION 2.(c)  This Part becomes effective July 1, 2026, and applies to fees imposed for medical examiner reports filed on or after that date.

part iii. effective date

SECTION 3.  Except as otherwise provided, this act is effective when it becomes law.