reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
NJ Rev Stat § 26:6B-4 (2021)
2021 New Jersey Revised Statutes|Title 26 - Health and Vital Statistics|Section 26:6B-4 - Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner.

26:6B-4 Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner.  4. There is established in the Executive Branch of the State Government the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner. For the purpose of complying with the provisions of Article V, Section IV, paragraph 1 of the New Jersey Constitution, the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner is allocated within the Department of Health; but, notwithstanding that allocation, the office shall be independent of any supervision or control by the department or by any board or officer thereof. L.2018, c.62, s.4.
NJ Rev Stat § 26:6B-5 (2021)
2021 New Jersey Revised Statutes|Title 26 - Health and Vital Statistics|Section 26:6B-5 - Certain office abolished; functions, powers duties transferred to the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner.

26:6B-5 Certain office abolished; functions, powers duties transferred to the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner.  5. a. The Office of the State Medical Examiner in the Department of Law and Public Safety, established pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1967, c.234 (C.52:17B-79), is abolished; and all of its functions, powers, and duties are transferred to the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner in the Department of Health established hereunder, subject to the provisions of this act and in accordance with the "State Agency Transfer Act," P.L.1971, c.375 (C.52:14D-1 et seq.).  b. All appropriations and other monies available, and to become available, to the Office of the State Medical Examiner in the Department of Law and Public Safety, established pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1967, c.234 (C.52:17B-79) and abolished pursuant to this act, are continued in the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner in the Department of Health established hereunder and shall be available for the objects and purposes for which these monies are appropriated, subject to the provisions of this act and any other terms, restrictions, limitations, or other requirements imposed by law. c. All contracts or agreements that have been executed, as of the effective date of this act, between the Office of the Attorney General and the Northern or Southern Regional Offices of the State Medical Examiner shall be transferred to the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner in the Department of Health, and continued as if the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner was the original party to the contract or agreement. d. Whenever the term "State Medical Examiner" occurs or any reference is made thereto in any law, rule, regulation, order, contract, document, judicial or administrative proceeding, or otherwise, the same shall be deemed to mean or refer to: the "Chief State Medical Examiner" designated as the head of the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner in the Department of Health established hereunder; or any person appointed to the position of "Deputy Chief State Medical Examiner" and acting on behalf of the Chief State Medical Examiner.  L.2018, c.62, s.5.
NJ Rev Stat § 26:6B-6 (2021)
2021 New Jersey Revised Statutes|Title 26 - Health and Vital Statistics|Section 26:6B-6 - Supervision by Chief State Medical Examiner over State medical examiner system; qualifications, appointment.

26:6B-6 Supervision by Chief State Medical Examiner over State medical examiner system; qualifications, appointment.  6. a. The Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner shall be under the immediate and sole supervision and authority of the Chief State Medical Examiner, who shall direct, control, and oversee the medical examiner system in this State.  b. The Chief State Medical Examiner shall be a physician licensed and in good standing in the State of New Jersey, a graduate of a regularly chartered and legally constituted medical school or college or osteopathic medical school or college, and certified in forensic pathology by the American Board of Pathology or by the American Osteopathic Board of Pathology. c. The Chief State Medical Examiner shall be appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, and shall serve for a term of five years and until a successor is appointed and has qualified. In the case of the death, removal, resignation, or permanent incapacity of the Chief State Medical Examiner, the Governor shall appoint a new Chief State Medical Examiner, in the same manner as the original appointment, within six months. d. The Chief State Medical Examiner shall receive a salary, which shall be within a salary range established by the Civil Service Commission with the approval of the Director of the Division of Budget and Accounting, as provided by section 2 of P.L.1974, c.55 (C.52:14-15.108), and as approved by the Governor. e. The Chief State Medical Examiner shall report directly to the Commissioner of Health and shall function independently within the department with respect to the supervision of the medical examiner system and the conducting of medicolegal death investigations. f. During the term of office set forth in this subsection, the Chief State Medical Examiner may be removed by the Governor only for cause as set forth in this act, upon notice and opportunity to be heard.  L.2018, c.62, s.6.
NJ Rev Stat § 26:6B-8 (2021)
2021 New Jersey Revised Statutes|Title 26 - Health and Vital Statistics|Section 26:6B-8 - Deputy Chief State Medical Examiner.

26:6B-8 Deputy Chief State Medical Examiner.  8. a. The position of Deputy Chief State Medical Examiner is created in the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner.  b. The Chief State Medical Examiner may appoint one or more persons to the position of Deputy Chief State Medical Examiner, as he determines is needed to provide for appropriate supervision of the medical examiner system in this State. If the Chief State Medical Examiner appoints more than one person as Deputy Chief State Medical Examiner, the Chief State Medical Examiner shall name one Deputy Chief Medical Examiner as the "First Deputy Chief State Medical Examiner." c. The Deputy Chief State Medical Examiner, or the First Deputy Chief State Medical Examiner if one has been named pursuant to subsection b. of this section, shall perform all of the duties of the Chief State Medical Examiner in the case of the incapacity, prolonged absence, permanent resignation, or removal of the Chief State Medical Examiner.  d. The Deputy Chief State Medical Examiner shall: be a physician licensed and in good standing in the State; be a graduate of a regularly chartered and legally constituted medical school or college or osteopathic medical school or college, and certified in forensic pathology by the American Board of Pathology or the American Osteopathic Board of Pathology; and possess such minimum training and experiential requirements as are established by the Chief State Medical Examiner.  e. Nothing shall preclude an appointed county or intercounty medical examiner from also serving as Deputy Chief State Medical Examiner, provided that person meets the eligibility requirements set forth in this section.  f. The Deputy Chief State Medical Examiner shall ensure compliance with the rules and regulations adopted by the Chief State Medical Examiner, and shall perform such duties as are assigned by the Chief State Medical Examiner.  g. The Deputy Chief State Medical Examiner may be removed from office by the Chief State Medical Examiner with or without cause. The removal shall be independent of any position that the Deputy Chief State Medical Examiner holds as a county or intercounty medical examiner. h. If the Deputy Chief State Medical Examiner appointed pursuant to this section assumes the duties of a county or intercounty medical examiner, the Deputy Chief State Medical Examiner shall have all the authority conferred by law upon a county or intercounty medical examiner and may appoint such assistants, aides, investigators, or other personnel as the Deputy Chief State Medical Examiner deems necessary. In that event, the treasurer of the county or the treasurers of the counties, as the case may be, shall reimburse the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner or its designated representative for all costs incurred in properly conducting death investigations on behalf of the county or counties and performing all other functions of the county or intercounty medical examiner.  L.2018, c.62, s.8.
NJ Rev Stat § 26:6B-12 (2021)
2021 New Jersey Revised Statutes|Title 26 - Health and Vital Statistics|Section 26:6B-12 - Examination, autopsy when decedent is an organ donor.

26:6B-12 Examination, autopsy when decedent is an organ donor.  12. a. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, if a decedent, whose death is under investigation pursuant to this act, is a donor of all or part of his body as evidenced by an advance directive for health care, will, card, or other document, or as otherwise provided in the "Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act," P.L.2008, c.50 (C.26:6-77 et seq.), the Chief State Medical Examiner, Deputy Chief State Medical Examiner, county or intercounty medical examiner, or assistant county or intercounty medical examiner, who has notice of the donation shall perform an examination, autopsy, or analysis of tissues or organs only in a manner and within a time period compatible with their preservation for the purposes of transplantation.  b. A health care professional, who is authorized to remove an anatomical gift from a donor whose death is under investigation pursuant to this act, may remove the donated part from the donor's body for acceptance by a person authorized to become a donee, after giving notice to the Chief State Medical Examiner, Deputy Chief State Medical Examiner, county or intercounty medical examiner, or assistant county or intercounty medical examiner, as applicable, if the examination, autopsy, or analysis has not been undertaken in the manner and within the time provided for in this act. The Chief State Medical Examiner, Deputy Chief State Medical Examiner, county or intercounty medical examiner, or assistant county or intercounty medical examiner, as applicable, shall be present during removal of the anatomical gift if, in that medical examiner's judgment, those tissues or organs may be involved in the cause of death. In that case, the applicable medical examiner may request a biopsy of those tissues or organs or deny removal of the anatomical gift. The applicable medical examiner shall explain in writing the reasons for determining that those tissues or organs may be involved in the cause of death, and shall include that explanation in the records maintained pursuant to this act. c. A health care professional, who is performing a transplant from a donor whose death is under investigation pursuant to this act, shall file with the Chief State Medical Examiner a report detailing the condition of the part of the body that is the anatomical gift and its relationship to the cause of death. If appropriate, the report shall include a biopsy or medically approved sample from the anatomical gift. The health care professional's report shall become part of the Chief State Medical Examiner's report. L.2018, c.62, s.12; amended 2019, c.49, s.1.
NJ Rev Stat § 26:6B-13 (2021)
2021 New Jersey Revised Statutes|Title 26 - Health and Vital Statistics|Section 26:6B-13 - Sudden Child Death Autopsy Protocol Committee.

26:6B-13 Sudden Child Death Autopsy Protocol Committee.  13. a. The Chief State Medical Examiner, in consultation with the commissioner, shall develop standardized protocols for autopsies performed in those cases in which the suspected cause of death of a child under one year of age is sudden infant death syndrome and in which the child is between one and three years of age and the death is sudden and unexpected. b. The Chief State Medical Examiner shall establish a Sudden Child Death Autopsy Protocol Committee to assist in developing and reviewing the protocols. The committee shall include, but not be limited to: the Chief State Medical Examiner, the Assistant Commissioner of the Division of Family Health Services in the Department of Health, and the Director of the Division of Child Protection and Permanency in the Department of Children and Families, or their designees; the director of the SIDS Resource Center established pursuant to section 4 of P.L.1987, c.331 (C.26:5D-4); an epidemiologist; a forensic pathologist; a pediatric pathologist, a county or intercounty medical examiner; a pediatrician who is knowledgeable about sudden infant death syndrome and child abuse; a law enforcement officer; an emergency medical technician or paramedic; a family member of a sudden infant death syndrome victim; and a family member of a sudden unexpected death victim who was between one and three years of age at the time of death. The committee shall annually review the protocol and make recommendations to the Chief State Medical Examiner to revise the protocol, as appropriate. c. The protocols shall include requirements and standards for scene investigation, criteria for ascertaining the cause of death based on autopsy, criteria for specific tissue sampling, and such other requirements as the committee deems appropriate. The protocols shall take into account nationally recognized standards for pediatric autopsies. d. The Chief State Medical Examiner shall be responsible for ensuring that the protocols are followed by all medical examiners and other persons authorized to conduct autopsies in those cases in which the suspected cause of death is sudden infant death syndrome or in which the child is between one and three years of age and the death is sudden and unexpected. e. The protocols shall authorize the medical examiner or other authorized person to take tissue samples for research purposes if the parent or legal guardian of the deceased child provides written consent for the taking of tissue samples for research purposes pursuant to subsection b. of this section. f. The sudden infant death syndrome autopsy protocol shall provide that if the findings in the autopsy are consistent with the definition of sudden infant death syndrome specified in the protocol, the person who conducts the autopsy shall state on the death certificate that sudden infant death syndrome is the cause of death. L.2018, c.62, s.13.
NJ Rev Stat § 26:6B-15 (2021)
2021 New Jersey Revised Statutes|Title 26 - Health and Vital Statistics|Section 26:6B-15 - Cooperation with Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

26:6B-15 Cooperation with Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.  15. a. All law enforcement officers, State and county prosecutors, and other officials and members of the public shall cooperate fully with the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner and county and intercounty medical examiners in making the investigations and conducting the autopsies provided for under this act. These officials and all physicians, funeral directors, and other persons shall assist in making dead bodies and related evidence available to such medical examiners for investigations and autopsies.  b. It shall be the duty of each county or intercounty medical examiner to fully cooperate with the Chief State Medical Examiner when the latter chooses to intervene in an ongoing medicolegal death investigation.  L.2018, c.62, s.15.
NJ Rev Stat § 26:6B-16 (2021)
2021 New Jersey Revised Statutes|Title 26 - Health and Vital Statistics|Section 26:6B-16 - Procedure regarding disinterment; powers of Chief State Medical Examiner.

26:6B-16 Procedure regarding disinterment; powers of Chief State Medical Examiner.
NJ Rev Stat § 26:6B-17 (2021)
2021 New Jersey Revised Statutes|Title 26 - Health and Vital Statistics|Section 26:6B-17 - Maintenance of records.

26:6B-17 Maintenance of records.  17. a. It shall be the duty of the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner and the office of each county or intercounty medical examiner to maintain full and complete records, properly indexed, for all medicolegal death investigations that they have conducted, including the name, if known, of every such person, the place where the body was found, date and cause of death, and all other available information relating thereto.  b. The original reports of the Chief State Medical Examiner, Deputy Chief State Medical Examiner, county or intercounty medical examiner, and assistant county or intercounty medical examiner, and the detailed findings of the autopsy, if any, along with the records of death notification, postmortem inspections and examinations, personal effects taken into possession, and any other information deemed necessary by the Chief State Medical Examiner, shall be attached to the case record for each medicolegal death investigation.  c. The Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner and the office of each county or intercounty medical examiner shall promptly deliver to the county prosecutor of the county in which the death occurred and to the Attorney General, copies of all records and other information relating to every death in which, in the applicable medical examiner's judgment, further investigation may be deemed advisable. The county prosecutor or the Attorney General may obtain copies of such records or other information from those offices as the county prosecutor or the Attorney General deems necessary for his investigation.  d. The records maintained by the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner and the office of each county or intercounty medical examiner, including those made by the applicable medical examiner or anyone under his direction or supervision, or transcripts thereof certified by the medical examiner, shall be received as competent evidence in any court in this State of the matters and facts therein contained.  e. The Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner and the office of each county or intercounty medical examiner may charge a reasonable fee to private persons for copies of such records and upon such conditions as may be prescribed by the Chief State Medical Examiner; provided, however, that no person with a proper interest in such records shall be denied access thereto. All such fees collected by the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner and by the office of each county or intercounty medical examiner shall be paid into the State Treasury or county treasury, as applicable, on or before the 10th day of each month.  L.2018, c.62, s.17.
NJ Rev Stat § 26:6B-19 (2021)
2021 New Jersey Revised Statutes|Title 26 - Health and Vital Statistics|Section 26:6B-19 - Annual report.

26:6B-19 Annual report.  19. a. The Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner, in conjunction with the Medical Examiner Review Team, shall issue an annual report, which shall be made publicly available. b. The annual report shall contain, at a minimum: (1) the budget and expenditures for each medical examiner office in this State, including its direct and indirect expenses, including a summary of the terms and conditions of each contract for the professional services of the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner and the office of each county or intercounty medical examiner; (2) the total number of cases received, reviewed, accepted, and investigated by each medical examiner office; (3) statistics of determined causes of death; and (4) an evaluation of the overall performance of each medical examiner office and the medical examiner system as a whole. L.2018, c.62, s.19.
NJ Rev Stat § 26:6B-20 (2021)
2021 New Jersey Revised Statutes|Title 26 - Health and Vital Statistics|Section 26:6B-20 - Causes for removal of medical examiner.

26:6B-20 Causes for removal of medical examiner.  20. The Governor shall be authorized to remove the Chief State Medical Examiner from office, and the Chief State Medical Examiner shall be authorized to remove any county or intercounty medical examiner from office, for any of the following causes:  a. engaging in illegal activity; b. intentional substantive noncompliance with rules and regulations; c. willful misconduct; d. professional incompetence and neglect of duty; e. insubordination; or f. excessive inefficiency in the performance of his duties. L.2018, c.62, s.20.
NJ Rev Stat § 26:6B-21 (2021)
2021 New Jersey Revised Statutes|Title 26 - Health and Vital Statistics|Section 26:6B-21 - New Jersey State Medical Examiner Toxicology Laboratory.

26:6B-21 New Jersey State Medical Examiner Toxicology Laboratory.  21. a. The Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner shall maintain and supervise a toxicology laboratory, to be designated as the New Jersey State Medical Examiner Toxicology Laboratory, in order to provide necessary toxicology services to the Chief State Medical Examiner, Deputy Chief State Medical Examiner, each county or intercounty medical examiner, and each assistant county or assistant intercounty medical examiner in the performance of medicolegal death investigations in this State. b. The Chief State Medical Examiner, Deputy Chief State Medical Examiner, county or intercounty medical examiner, and assistant county or assistant intercounty medical examiner requiring the services of a toxicology laboratory are encouraged to enlist the services of the New Jersey State Medical Examiner Toxicology Laboratory. Use of another lab is permitted, provided that the laboratory meets national accreditation standards. c. The Chief State Medical Examiner shall ensure that the Attorney General and each county prosecutor, as applicable, promptly receive copies of all final toxicology laboratory testing results from the New Jersey State Medical Examiner Toxicology Laboratory or another lab as permitted by subsection b. of this section for toxicology specimens submitted from the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner or any county or intercounty medical examiner's office. The Attorney General or county prosecutor may obtain copies of the final toxicology testing results as the Attorney General or county prosecutor deems necessary for the fulfillment of his or her official duties. d. The Chief State Medical Examiner shall adopt such rules and regulations as may be necessary concerning the operations and use of the New Jersey State Medical Examiner Toxicology Laboratory. L.2018, c.62, s.21.
NJ Rev Stat § 26:6B-23 (2021)
2021 New Jersey Revised Statutes|Title 26 - Health and Vital Statistics|Section 26:6B-23 - Immunity from liability.

26:6B-23 Immunity from liability.  24. The Chief State Medical Examiner, a Deputy Chief State Medical Examiner, an Assistant Medical Examiner, their employees, the members of any committees established pursuant to this act, and any other persons who are authorized to undertake actions pursuant to this act, shall be immune from civil or criminal liability, and from professional disciplinary action, for any acts or omissions that are undertaken thereby, in good faith, in accordance with the provisions of this act. L.2018, c.62, s.24.