2. a. (1) A county health department may establish a local overdose fatality review team to conduct a comprehensive review of confirmed overdose fatalities, or a sample thereof using an approach authorized by the Department of Health in consultation with the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner, in order to better understand the individual and population circumstances and the resources and characteristics of potential overdose victims for the purposes of preventing future overdose deaths and related harms in a locality.

(2) A local drug overdose fatality review team may be established to serve one or more counties. The Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner may direct a local overdose fatality review team to establish a municipal subcommittee to focus on a municipality with a population of 100,000 persons or more; or

a municipality with a high overdose rate as determined on annual basis by the Department of Health and the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner.

(3) A local overdose fatality review team shall be under the direction of the county health department and shall be subject to the regulation of the Department of Health. A local team shall work cooperatively with the Local Advisory Committee on Alcohol Use Disorder and Substance Use Disorder, established pursuant to section 4 of P.L.1983, c.531 (C. 26:2B-33), if one exists within the local team’s jurisdiction. A local team shall cooperate with and provide any information as may be requested by the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner or the Department of Health for public health purposes.

b. A local overdose fatality review team shall consist of individuals with experience and knowledge regarding health, social services, law enforcement, education, emergency medicine, mental health, juvenile delinquency, and substance use disorders.

(1) At a minimum, each local overdose fatality review team shall include:

(a) the county health officer, or a designee;

(b) the regional or county medical examiner, or a designee;

(c) a member of the Local Advisory Committee on Alcohol Use Disorder and Substance Use Disorder, established pursuant to section 4 of P.L.1983, c.531 (C. 26:2B-33), if one exists within the local team’s jurisdiction;

(d) a State, county, or municipal law enforcement officer or county prosecutor;

(e) a substance use disorder health care professional; and

(f) the county or municipal director of behavioral health services, or a designee.

(2) A local overdose fatality review team may also include any of the following:

(a) the superintendent of schools, or a designee;

(b) an emergency medical services provider;

(c) a representative of a health care facility, including a hospital, health system, or federally qualified health center;

(d) a representative of a county jail, detention center, or corrections department;

(e) a representative of a county social services agency;

(f) an individual with access to the Prescription Monitoring Program established pursuant to section 25 of P.L.2007, c.244 (C. 45:1-45);

(g) a representative of the local office of the Division of Child Protection and Permanency in the Department of Children and Families;

(h) a representative of a county healthcare facility;

(i) a representative of a harm reduction center, if one is located in a municipality or county over which the local team exercises jurisdiction;

(j) any individual deemed necessary for the work of the local team, as recommended by the chair and approved by a majority vote of the team members and by the Department of Health; and

(k) a representative of the office of county probation and parole services.

L.2021, c.430, s.2.