26:6B-2 Findings, declarations relative to the "Revised State Medical Examiner Act."

2. The Legislature finds and declares that:

a. The enactment of a "Revised State Medical Examiner Act" is necessary in order to reform the current decentralized and fragmented medical examiner system in this State;

b. The linchpin of this reform is to be the establishment of a new Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner, to be led by a single officer known as the Chief State Medical Examiner, with significant statutory authority and operational oversight to ensure the effective and efficient operation of the entire medical examiner system in New Jersey;

c. This new office is to be established in, but not of, the Department of Health in order to ensure its independent status, and the Chief State Medical Examiner is to exercise explicit supervisory authority over the entire medical examiner system, with the power to intervene at his discretion in any medicolegal death investigation in this State;

d. The Chief State Medical Examiner is to be responsible for ensuring that the entire medical examiner system is adequately equipped to effectively deliver medicolegal death investigation services throughout the State, including appropriate funding for staff, equipment, and facilities for all medical examiner offices;

e. The Chief State Medical Examiner is to establish operating and performance standards for every medical examiner office in New Jersey, including uniform procedures for medicolegal death investigations; and

f. The reforms entailed in this act will result in a more efficient and effective medical examiner system that will better meet the needs of this State and thereby serve the public interest.

L.2018, c.62, s.2.