Senate committee substitute to the 2nd edition replaces the bill in its entirety with the following.   

Amends GS 130A-385 (duties of medical examiners [ME’s] upon receipt of notice) as follows. Removes the general ME investigative provisions from GS 130A-385(a), including the statute’s authorization to an ME to seek an administrative search warrant in certain instances.  Instead sets forth the ME’s investigative authority in three instances:

• In all cases, the Chief ME or the county ME may (i) inspect the decedent's body; (ii) inspect and copy the medical records of the decedent whose death is under investigation; (iii) collect and inspect the decedent's body and personal possessions associated with the death, including clothing on the decedent's body; and (iv) collect tissue and blood samples, cultures, medical images, X rays, and other medical information obtained through the use of medical equipment.
• In the case of a decedent whose death is not under criminal investigation, the Chief ME or the county ME conducting an investigation pursuant to Article 16, Postmortem Investigation and Disposition, is authorized to inspect all other physical evidence and documents that may be relevant to determining the cause and manner of death of the person whose death is under investigation, and the Chief ME or county ME may seek an administrative search warrant pursuant to GS 15-27.2 for the purpose of carrying out these duties.
• In the case of a decedent whose death is under criminal investigation, prevents an administrative search warrant from being issued, and prevents the Chief ME or the county ME from inspecting other physical evidence or documents at the scene except as permitted by the investigating law enforcement agency. The district attorney (DA) or investigating law enforcement agency must inform the Chief ME, the county ME, or the autopsy center, as applicable, that the death is under criminal investigation. Specifies that nothing here prohibits the Chief ME or the county ME from being present during the execution of a search warrant by the investigating law enforcement agency.

Requires that the facilities of autopsy centers and their staff services also be available to MEs and dedicated pathologists in their investigations (currently, just central and district offices). Expands the entities who must provide a copy of its ME investigation file (defined) to a DA upon request to now include the Office of the Chief ME (OME), the local ME, and an autopsy center, as applicable.  Specifies that the obligation is a continuing disclosure obligation. Requires the DA or investigating law enforcement agency to inform the disclosing entities if the death is no longer under investigation and the obligation terminates. 

Makes technical, clarifying, and organizational changes.

Expands the continuing education requirements for county MEs under GS 130A-382(b) to include requirements for compliance with their duties prescribed by GS 130A-385 and GS 130A-389.

Allows a DA at least 72 weekday hours after pronouncement of death to request an autopsy under GS 130A-389(a)(3) (autopsy at request of DA upon probable cause that the decedent died because of certain controlled substances), so long as the DA or the investigating law enforcement agency provides notification within the first 24 hours after the pronouncement of death that such an assertion might be made. Specifies that the DA is not required to provide the facts supporting probable cause to the Chief ME.  

Effective October 1, 2024.

Section 2

Amends GS 7A-498.4 (the Indigent Defense Services Commission [IDSC]) as follows. Requires all thirteen members to reside in different judicial districts from one another. No longer allows the NC Association of Black Lawyers, the NC Association of Women Lawyers, the NC Bar Association, and the Governor to have any appointment authority to the IDSC.  Now requires the Chief Justice of the NC Supreme Court to appoint an attorney (currently, appoints an active or former member of the judiciary).  Increases the number of appointees by the President Pro Tempore of the NC Senate from one attorney to four attorney members, two of whom must regularly serve as appointed counsel. Increases the number of appointees by the Speaker of the NC House from one attorney to four attorney members, two of whom must regularly serve as appointed counsel. Requires the NC Public Defenders Association to appoint a public defender (currently, just has to appoint an attorney). Reduces the IDSC’s appointees from three (one non- attorney, one who may be a member of the judiciary, and one Native American member) to one attorney member. Allows IDSC members to include active public defenders and active employees of public defenders. Makes technical and conforming changes.

Effective October 1, 2024, and applies to appointments made on or after that date. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, sets forth schedule for when the terms of members of the IDSC appointed prior to October 1, 2024, will conclude.

Section 3

Creates a third type of eligibility for a limited driving privilege under GS 20-179.3 for a person convicted of the offense of impaired driving under GS 20-138.1 who has been convicted of not more than one offense involving impaired driving within the preceding seven years if all of five listed requirements are met, including that the person has obtained and filed with the court a substance abuse assessment required for the restoration of a driver’s license.  Specifies that a person whose NC driver’s license is revoked because of a conviction in another jurisdiction that is substantially similar to impaired driving under GS 20-138.1 is eligible for a limited driving privilege if they would be eligible if the conviction had occurred in the state. 

Amends GS 20-17.8 (applicable to a person with a driver’s license) and GS 20-179.3 (applicable to a person with a limited driving privilege) by adding that a person who commits an ignition interlock system violation during the 90 days immediately preceding the date on which the person’s initial compliance with the ignition interlock is to end must have the period of compliance extended for an additional period of 90 days or until the person has been violation-free for such extended period.

Effective July 1, 2024. Provides that prosecutions for offenses committed before the act’s effective date are not abated or affected by this act, and the statutes that would be applicable but for this act remain applicable to those prosecutions.

Section 3.5

Adds new GS 14-18.5 (death by distribution of xylazine; aggravated death by distribution of xylazine; penalties), as follows. States the General Assembly’s findings and intent. Establishes the offense of death by distribution through delivery of xylazine as a Class C felony when a person delivers xylazine, the ingestion of the xylazine causes the user’s death, and the delivery was the proximate cause. Establishes the offense of death by distribution through delivery with malice of xylazine as a Class B2 felony, which consists of the elements above, and that the person acted with malice. Establishes the offense of death by distribution through sale of xylazine as a Class B2 felony when a person sells xylazine, the ingestion of the xylazine causes the user’s death, and the delivery was the proximate cause. Creates an aggravated offense (raising it to a Class B1 felony) if the person has certain prior convictions within ten years of the date of the offense, excluding times when the person was incarcerated in a local, state, or federal detention center, jail, or prison. Specifies that death by distribution through sale of xylazine is a lesser included offense of the aggravated death by distribution through sale of xylazine offense. Provides that the new offense does not restrict or interfere with Good Samaritan rights and immunities related to drug overdoses as set forth in GS 90-96.2.  Exempts (1) issuing a valid prescription for a controlled substance for a legitimate medical purpose by an individual practitioner acting in the usual course of professional practice and (2) dispensing, delivering, or administering a controlled substance pursuant to a prescription by a pharmacy permitted under GS 90-85.21, a pharmacist, or an individual practitioner from criminal prosecution.   

Effective December 1, 2024, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date.  

Makes conforming changes to the act’s titles.