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.