Florida Senate - 2026                                    SB 1752
       
       
        
       By Senator DiCeglie
       
       
       
       
       
       18-00921C-26                                          20261752__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to suicide and drug overdose
    3         prevention; creating ss. 394.47893 and 394.47894,
    4         F.S.; providing legislative intent and purpose;
    5         creating the Drug Overdose Death Review Committee and
    6         the Suicide Death Review Committee, respectively,
    7         within the Department of Health for specified
    8         purposes; requiring local public health departments to
    9         establish local review committees for a specified
   10         purpose; providing for membership of the committees
   11         and duties of the Drug Overdose Death Review Committee
   12         and the Suicide Death Review Committee, respectively;
   13         authorizing external stakeholders to review specified
   14         information; providing for stakeholder participation;
   15         requiring the Drug Overdose Death Review Committee and
   16         the Suicide Death Review Committee, respectively, to
   17         annually submit a report to the Department of Health
   18         and the Statewide Drug Policy Advisory Council by a
   19         specified date; providing requirements for the report;
   20         authorizing the chair of the committees to access
   21         certain records; authorizing the committees to access
   22         certain records and information; authorizing providers
   23         to charge a specified fee for records; providing
   24         requirements for and prohibitions on the use of such
   25         records and information; authorizing the chair of the
   26         Drug Overdose Death Review Committee and the Suicide
   27         Death Review Committee, respectively, to issue
   28         subpoenas for records; providing construction;
   29         providing that persons who attend a committee meeting
   30         or otherwise participate in committee activities may
   31         not be required to testify in any proceeding as to any
   32         records or information related to such meetings or
   33         activities; providing certain entities and persons
   34         immunity from liability for participating in or
   35         furnishing records or information to a committee;
   36         providing applicability; authorizing the Department of
   37         Health, or any political subdivision of the state
   38         operating a local review committee, to administer
   39         certain funds for the operation of the committees,
   40         apply for grants and accept donations, and, to the
   41         extent funds are available, hire staff or consultants
   42         and reimburse reasonable expenses; authorizing the
   43         State Surgeon General or a county or city
   44         administrator to substitute certain existing entities
   45         for purposes of carrying out the responsibilities of
   46         the committees; requiring each regional managing
   47         director of the Department of Children and Families to
   48         appoint a local review committee representative;
   49         providing requirements for the representative;
   50         requiring the Department of Health to adopt rules;
   51         providing an effective date.
   52          
   53  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   54  
   55         Section 1. Section 394.47893, Florida Statutes, is created
   56  to read:
   57         394.47893Drug overdose review; Drug Overdose Death Review
   58  Committee; local review committees.—
   59         (1)LEGISLATIVE INTENT; PURPOSE.—It is the intent of the
   60  Legislature to establish multidisciplinary, multiagency,
   61  epidemiological drug overdose death review committees. The local
   62  committees shall review the facts and circumstances of drug
   63  related deaths that occur within each committee jurisdiction.
   64  The local review committees shall work cooperatively. The
   65  primary function of the local review committees is to conduct
   66  individual case reviews of drug overdose deaths; identify
   67  factors contributing to those deaths; make recommendations for
   68  system, policy, and practice improvements at the local and state
   69  level; promote interagency collaboration and data sharing
   70  consistent with federal and state confidentiality protections;
   71  and inform prevention initiatives through accurate, timely, and
   72  comprehensive data. The purpose of the local review committees
   73  is to:
   74         (a)Achieve a greater understanding of the causes and
   75  contributing factors of deaths resulting from drug overdose.
   76         (b)Whenever possible, develop a communitywide approach to
   77  address the causes and contributing factors.
   78         (c)Identify any gaps, deficiencies, or problems in the
   79  delivery of services to individuals by public and private
   80  agencies which may be related to deaths that are the result of
   81  drug overdose.
   82         (d)Recommend changes in law, rules, and policies at the
   83  state and local levels, as well as develop practice standards
   84  that support the safe and healthy stabilization of individuals
   85  and reduce preventable deaths.
   86         (e)Following internal review of identified cases, engage
   87  community stakeholders as part of a deidentified review of case
   88  findings from the review group for broader insights about gaps,
   89  deficiencies, or observed themes that identify problems or
   90  prevention practices.
   91         (f)Implement such recommendations, to the extent possible.
   92         (2)DRUG OVERDOSE DEATH REVIEW COMMITTEE.—The Drug Overdose
   93  Death Review Committee is established within the Department of
   94  Health to review deaths resulting from drug overdose. Local
   95  public health departments shall establish local review
   96  committees, which shall provide review results to the Drug
   97  Overdose Death Review Committee.
   98         (a)Membership.—
   99         1.a.The Drug Overdose Death Review Committee shall, at a
  100  minimum, include representatives appointed by the State Surgeon
  101  General from all of the following:
  102         (I)The Department of Health.
  103         (II)County and city health and human services departments
  104  or divisions.
  105         (III)The medical examiner’s office.
  106         (IV)Local managing entities that are contracted by the
  107  Department of Children and Families.
  108         (V)Emergency medical services.
  109         (VI)Next of kin of persons whose deaths resulted from drug
  110  overdose.
  111         b.The members of the Drug Overdose Death Review Committee
  112  shall be appointed to staggered terms not to exceed 2 years
  113  each, as determined by the State Surgeon General. Members may be
  114  appointed to no more than three consecutive terms. The Drug
  115  Overdose Death Review Committee shall elect a chair from among
  116  its members to serve for a 2-year term, and the chair may
  117  appoint ad hoc committees as necessary to carry out the duties
  118  of the committee.
  119         2.a.Local committees may include representatives appointed
  120  by county health department directors, to the extent available,
  121  from:
  122         (I)The Agency for Health Care Administration.
  123         (II)County and city health and human services departments
  124  or divisions.
  125         (III)Hospitals and health systems.
  126         (IV)Behavioral health service providers and recovery
  127  organizations.
  128         (V)Judges and public defenders from the judicial circuit.
  129         (VI)Poison control centers.
  130         b.The members of a local committee shall be appointed to
  131  2-year terms and may be reappointed. The local review committee
  132  shall elect a chair from among its members to serve for a 2-year
  133  term. Members shall serve without compensation but may receive
  134  reimbursement for per diem and travel expenses incurred in the
  135  performance of their duties as provided in s. 112.061 and to the
  136  extent that funds are available.
  137         (b)Duties.—The Drug Overdose Death Review Committee shall:
  138         1.Develop standardized protocols and data collection
  139  instruments for use by the local review committees.
  140         2.Review selected cases for drug overdose death review.
  141         3.Maintain a protected database of reviewed fatalities to
  142  safeguard disclosure of private and protected health information
  143  and to inventory the cases reviewed. The chair and vice chair of
  144  the review committee shall have access to this protected
  145  database. The protected database shall be created by the
  146  Department of Health.
  147         4.Study the adequacy of laws, rules, training, and
  148  services to determine what changes are needed to decrease the
  149  incidence of drug overdose deaths and develop strategies and
  150  recruit partners to implement these changes.
  151         5.Promote continuing education for professionals who
  152  review, treat, and prevent deaths related to drug overdose.
  153         6.Recommend, when appropriate, a review of the death
  154  certificate of any individual who died as a result of drug
  155  overdose.
  156         7.Assist the Department of Health in collecting data on
  157  deaths that are the result of drug overdose.
  158         8.Submit written reports as requested by the Department of
  159  Children and Families. The reports must include:
  160         a.Nonidentifying information from individual cases.
  161         b.Identification of any problems with the data system
  162  uncovered during the review process and the committee’s
  163  recommendations for system improvements and needed resources,
  164  training, and information dissemination, where gaps or
  165  deficiencies may exist.
  166         c.All steps taken by the local review committees and
  167  private and public agencies to implement necessary changes and
  168  improve the coordination of services and reviews.
  169         9.Submit all records requested by the Department of
  170  Children and Families at the conclusion of the review of a death
  171  resulting from drug overdose.
  172         (3)LOCAL STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT.—Following internal review
  173  by the Drug Overdose Death Review Committee, external
  174  stakeholders may review nonidentifiable case findings to
  175  generate broader insights into the findings of cases reviewed,
  176  to supplement identification of themes and problems, and to
  177  develop prevention recommendations. Stakeholder participants
  178  shall include representatives, to the extent available, from:
  179         (a)The state attorney’s office.
  180         (b)Community-based service agencies.
  181         (c)Persons with lived experience in recovery or loss
  182  survivors.
  183         (d)Law enforcement agencies.
  184         (e)Middle schools and high schools.
  185         (f)Physicians.
  186         (g)Social workers.
  187         (4)ANNUAL STATISTICAL REPORT.—The Drug Overdose Death
  188  Review Committee shall prepare and submit a comprehensive
  189  statistical report by December 1, 2027, and annually thereafter,
  190  to the Department of Health and the Statewide Drug Policy
  191  Advisory Council which includes data, trends, analysis,
  192  findings, and recommendations for state and local action
  193  regarding reviewed deaths from drug overdose. The data must be
  194  presented on an individual calendar year basis and in the
  195  context of a multiyear trend. At a minimum, the report must
  196  include all of the following:
  197         (a)Descriptive statistics, including demographic
  198  information, regarding victims and the causes and nature of
  199  deaths.
  200         (b)A detailed statistical analysis of the incidence and
  201  causes of deaths.
  202         (c)Specific issues identified within current policy,
  203  procedure, rule, or statute and recommendations to address those
  204  issues from both the state and local committees.
  205         (d)Other recommendations to prevent drug overdose deaths
  206  based on an analysis of the data presented in the report.
  207         (5)ACCESS TO AND USE OF RECORDS AND INFORMATION.—
  208         (a)Notwithstanding any other law, the chair of the Drug
  209  Overdose Death Review Committee, or the chair of a local review
  210  committee, may access any information or records that pertain to
  211  an individual whose death is being reviewed by the committee and
  212  are necessary for the committee to carry out its duties,
  213  including information or records that pertain to a child’s
  214  family and all of the following:
  215         1.Patient records in the possession of a public or private
  216  provider of medical care, dental care, substance use treatment,
  217  or mental health care, including, but not limited to, a facility
  218  licensed under this chapter, chapter 393, or chapter 395, or a
  219  health care practitioner as defined in s. 456.001. Providers may
  220  charge a fee for copies not to exceed 50 cents per page for
  221  paper records and $1 per fiche for microfiche records.
  222         2.Information or records of any state or local agency or
  223  political subdivision which may assist a committee in reviewing
  224  a death, including, but not limited to, information or records
  225  of the Department of Children and Families, the Department of
  226  Health, the Department of Education, the Department of Juvenile
  227  Justice, the Agency for Health Care Administration, or any
  228  health facility licensed by this state.
  229         (b)The Drug Overdose Death Review Committee or a local
  230  review committee may access all information of a medical
  231  examiner or law enforcement agency which is not the subject of
  232  an active investigation and which pertains to the review of a
  233  death. A committee may not disclose any information that is not
  234  subject to public disclosure by the law enforcement agency, and
  235  active criminal intelligence information or criminal
  236  investigative information, as defined in s. 119.011(3), may not
  237  be made available for review or access under this section. The
  238  committee may not disclose any information or records that
  239  contain personally identifiable information of a decedent or
  240  family member; health, treatment, or social service records; law
  241  enforcement or medical examiner records related to the decedent;
  242  or information that would identify a provider involved in the
  243  care of the decedent.
  244         (c)Local review committees may share with each other any
  245  relevant information that pertains to the review of the drug
  246  overdose death.
  247         (d)A member of the Drug Overdose Death Review Committee or
  248  a local review committee may contact, interview, or obtain
  249  information by request from a member of a decedent’s family as
  250  part of a committee’s next of kin interview process to inform
  251  the review of a death. A member of the decedent’s family may
  252  voluntarily provide records or information to the Drug Overdose
  253  Death Review Committee or a local review committee.
  254         (e)The chair of the Drug Overdose Death Review Committee
  255  may require the production of records by requesting a subpoena,
  256  through the Department of Legal Affairs, in any county of the
  257  state. Such subpoena is effective throughout the state and may
  258  be served by any sheriff. Failure to obey the subpoena is
  259  punishable as provided by general law.
  260         (f)This subsection does not authorize the members of any
  261  committee to have access to any grand jury proceedings.
  262         (g)A person who has attended a meeting of a committee or
  263  who has otherwise participated in activities authorized by this
  264  section may not be authorized or required to testify in any
  265  civil, criminal, or administrative proceeding as to any records
  266  or information produced or presented to a committee during
  267  meetings or other activities authorized by this section.
  268  However, this paragraph does not prevent any person who presents
  269  information to the committee or who is a member of the committee
  270  from testifying as to matters otherwise within his or her
  271  knowledge. An organization, institution, committee member, or
  272  other person who participates or furnishes information, data,
  273  reports, or records to a committee is not liable for damages to
  274  any person and is not subject to any other civil, criminal, or
  275  administrative recourse. This paragraph does not apply to any
  276  person who admits to committing a crime.
  277         (6)DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH RESPONSIBILITIES.—
  278         (a)The Department of Health, or any political subdivision
  279  of the state operating a local review committee, may administer
  280  the funds appropriated to operate the review committees and may
  281  apply for grants and accept donations.
  282         (b)To the extent that funds are available, the Department
  283  of Health, or any political subdivision of the state, may hire
  284  staff or consultants to assist a review committee in performing
  285  its duties. Funds may also be used to reimburse reasonable
  286  expenses of the staff and consultants for the committees.
  287         (c)For the purpose of carrying out the responsibilities
  288  assigned to the Drug Overdose Death Review Committee and local
  289  review committees, the State Surgeon General or a county or city
  290  administrator may substitute an existing entity whose function
  291  and organization includes the function and organization of the
  292  committees established under this section.
  293         (7)DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES RESPONSIBILITIES.
  294  Each regional managing director of the Department of Children
  295  and Families must appoint a local review representative for the
  296  region. The representative must have knowledge and expertise in
  297  the area of drug overdose. The representative’s general
  298  responsibilities include:
  299         (a)Coordinating with the local review committee.
  300         (b)Participating in the implementation of the drug
  301  overdose death review process and all regional activities
  302  related to the review of drug overdose deaths.
  303         (c)Working with the Drug Overdose Death Review Committee
  304  and the contracted managing entity to ensure that the reviews
  305  are thorough and that all issues are appropriately addressed.
  306         (d)Ensuring that all critical issues identified by the
  307  local review committee are brought to the attention of the
  308  regional managing director and the Secretary of Children and
  309  Families.
  310         (e)Providing technical assistance to the Drug Overdose
  311  Death Review Committee during the review of any drug overdose
  312  death.
  313         (8)RULEMAKING.—The Department of Health shall adopt rules
  314  necessary to implement this section.
  315         Section 2. Section 394.47894, Florida Statutes, is created
  316  to read:
  317         394.47894Suicide review; Suicide Death Review Committee;
  318  local review committees.—
  319         (1)LEGISLATIVE INTENT; PURPOSE.—It is the intent of the
  320  Legislature to establish multidisciplinary, multiagency,
  321  epidemiological suicide death review committees. The local
  322  committees shall review the facts and circumstances of suicide
  323  deaths that occur within each committee jurisdiction. The local
  324  review committees shall work cooperatively. The primary function
  325  of the local review committees is to conduct individual case
  326  reviews of suicide deaths; identify factors contributing to
  327  those deaths; make recommendations for system, policy, and
  328  practice improvements at the local and state level; promote
  329  interagency collaboration and data sharing consistent with
  330  federal and state confidentiality protections; and inform
  331  prevention initiatives through accurate, timely, and
  332  comprehensive data. The purpose of the local review committees
  333  is to:
  334         (a)Achieve a greater understanding of the causes and
  335  contributing factors of deaths resulting from suicide.
  336         (b)Whenever possible, develop a communitywide approach to
  337  address the causes and contributing factors.
  338         (c)Identify any gaps, deficiencies, or problems in the
  339  delivery of services to individuals by public and private
  340  agencies which may be related to deaths that are the result of
  341  suicide.
  342         (d)Recommend changes in law, rules, and policies at the
  343  state and local levels, as well as develop practice standards
  344  that support the safe and healthy stabilization of individuals
  345  and reduce preventable deaths.
  346         (e)Following internal review of identified cases, engage
  347  community stakeholders as part of a deidentified review of case
  348  findings from the review group for broader insights about gaps,
  349  deficiencies, or observed themes that identify problems or
  350  prevention practices.
  351         (f)Implement such recommendations, to the extent possible.
  352         (2)SUICIDE DEATH REVIEW COMMITTEE.—The Suicide Death
  353  Review Committee is established within the Department of Health
  354  to review deaths resulting from suicide. Local public health
  355  departments shall establish local review committees, which shall
  356  provide review results to the Suicide Death Review Committee.
  357         (a)Membership.
  358         1.a.The Suicide Death Review Committee shall, at a
  359  minimum, include representatives appointed by the State Surgeon
  360  General from all of the following:
  361         (I)The Department of Health.
  362         (II)County and city health and human services departments
  363  or divisions.
  364         (III)The medical examiner’s office.
  365         (IV)Local managing entities that are contracted by the
  366  Department of Children and Families.
  367         (V)Emergency medical services.
  368         (VI)Next of kin of persons whose deaths resulted from
  369  suicide.
  370         b.The members of the Suicide Death Review Committee shall
  371  be appointed to staggered terms not to exceed 2 years each, as
  372  determined by the State Surgeon General. Members may be
  373  appointed to no more than three consecutive terms. The Suicide
  374  Death Review Committee shall elect a chair from among its
  375  members to serve for a 2-year term, and the chair may appoint ad
  376  hoc committees as necessary to carry out the duties of the
  377  committee.
  378         2.a.Local committees may include representatives appointed
  379  by county health department directors, to the extent available,
  380  from:
  381         (I)The Agency for Health Care Administration.
  382         (II)County and city health and human services departments
  383  or divisions.
  384         (III)Hospitals and health systems.
  385         (IV)Behavioral health service providers and recovery
  386  organizations.
  387         (V)Judges and public defenders from the judicial circuit.
  388         (VI)Poison control centers.
  389         b.The members of a local committee shall be appointed to
  390  2-year terms and may be reappointed. The local review committee
  391  shall elect a chair from among its members to serve for a 2-year
  392  term. Members shall serve without compensation but may receive
  393  reimbursement for per diem and travel expenses incurred in the
  394  performance of their duties as provided in s. 112.061 and to the
  395  extent that funds are available.
  396         (b)Duties.—The Suicide Death Review Committee shall:
  397         1.Develop standardized protocols and data collection
  398  instruments for use by the local review committees.
  399         2.Review selected cases for review of deaths from suicide.
  400         3.Maintain a protected database of reviewed fatalities to
  401  safeguard disclosure of private and protected health information
  402  and to inventory the cases reviewed. The chair and vice chair of
  403  the review committee shall have access to this protected
  404  database. The protected database shall be created by the
  405  Department of Health.
  406         4.Study the adequacy of laws, rules, training, and
  407  services to determine what changes are needed to decrease the
  408  incidence of suicides and develop strategies and recruit
  409  partners to implement these changes.
  410         5.Promote continuing education for professionals who
  411  review, treat, and prevent deaths related to suicide.
  412         6.Recommend, when appropriate, the review of the death
  413  certificate of any individual who died as a result of suicide.
  414         7.Assist the Department of Health in collecting data on
  415  deaths that are the result of suicide.
  416         8.Submit written reports as requested by the Department of
  417  Health. The reports must include:
  418         a.Nonidentifying information from individual cases.
  419         b.Identification of any problems with the data system
  420  uncovered during the review process and the committee’s
  421  recommendations for system improvements and needed resources,
  422  training, and information dissemination, where gaps or
  423  deficiencies may exist.
  424         c.All steps taken by the local review committees and
  425  private and public agencies to implement necessary changes and
  426  improve the coordination of services and reviews.
  427         9.Submit all records requested by the Department of Health
  428  at the conclusion of the review of a death resulting from
  429  suicide.
  430         (3)LOCAL STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT.—Following internal review
  431  by the Suicide Death Review Committee, external stakeholders may
  432  review nonidentifiable case findings to generate broader
  433  insights into the findings of cases reviewed, to supplement
  434  identification of themes and problems, and to develop prevention
  435  recommendations. Stakeholder participants shall include
  436  representatives, to the extent available, from:
  437         (a)The state attorney’s office.
  438         (b)Community-based service agencies.
  439         (c)Persons with lived experience in recovery or loss
  440  survivors.
  441         (d)Law enforcement agencies.
  442         (e)Middle schools and high schools.
  443         (f)Physicians.
  444         (g)Social workers.
  445         (4)ANNUAL STATISTICAL REPORT.—The Suicide Death Review
  446  Committee shall prepare and submit a comprehensive statistical
  447  report by December 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, to the
  448  Department of Health and the Department of Children and Families
  449  and the Statewide Drug Policy Advisory Council which includes
  450  data, trends, analysis, findings, and recommendations for state
  451  and local action regarding reviewed deaths from suicide. The
  452  data must be presented on an individual calendar year basis and
  453  in the context of a multiyear trend. At a minimum, the report
  454  must include all of the following:
  455         (a)Descriptive statistics, including demographic
  456  information, regarding victims and the causes and nature of
  457  deaths.
  458         (b)A detailed statistical analysis of the incidence and
  459  causes of deaths.
  460         (c)Specific issues identified within current policy,
  461  procedure, rule, or statute and recommendations to address those
  462  issues from both the state and local committees.
  463         (d)Other recommendations to prevent suicides based on an
  464  analysis of the data presented in the report.
  465         (5)ACCESS TO AND USE OF RECORDS AND INFORMATION.—
  466         (a)Notwithstanding any other law, the chair of the Suicide
  467  Death Review Committee, or the chair of a local review
  468  committee, may access any information or records that pertain to
  469  an individual whose death is being reviewed by the committee and
  470  are necessary for the committee to carry out its duties,
  471  including information or records that pertain to a child’s
  472  family and all of the following:
  473         1.Patient records in the possession of a public or private
  474  provider of medical care, dental care, substance use treatment,
  475  or mental health care, including, but not limited to, a facility
  476  licensed under this chapter, chapter 393, or chapter 395, or a
  477  health care practitioner as defined in s. 456.001. Providers may
  478  charge a fee for copies not to exceed 50 cents per page for
  479  paper records and $1 per fiche for microfiche records.
  480         2.Information or records of any state or local agency or
  481  political subdivision which may assist a committee in reviewing
  482  a death, including, but not limited to, information or records
  483  of the Department of Children and Families, the Department of
  484  Health, the Department of Education, the Department of Juvenile
  485  Justice, the Agency for Health Care Administration, or any
  486  health facility licensed by this state.
  487         (b)The Suicide Death Review Committee or a local review
  488  committee may access all information of a medical examiner or
  489  law enforcement agency that is not the subject of an active
  490  investigation and that pertains to the review of a death. A
  491  committee may not disclose any information that is not subject
  492  to public disclosure by the law enforcement agency, and active
  493  criminal intelligence information or criminal investigative
  494  information, as defined in s. 119.011(3), may not be made
  495  available for review or access under this section. The committee
  496  may not disclose any information or records that contain
  497  personally identifiable information of a decedent or family
  498  member; health, treatment, or social service records; law
  499  enforcement or medical examiner records related to the decedent;
  500  or information that would identify a provider involved in the
  501  care of the decedent.
  502         (c)Local review committees may share with each other any
  503  relevant information that pertains to the review of the suicide.
  504         (d)A member of the Suicide Death Review Committee or a
  505  local review committee may contact, interview, or obtain
  506  information by request from a member of a decedent’s family as
  507  part of a committee’s next of kin interview process to inform
  508  the review of a death. A member of the decedent’s family may
  509  voluntarily provide records or information to the Suicide Death
  510  Review Committee or a local review committee.
  511         (e)The chair of the Suicide Death Review Committee may
  512  require the production of records by requesting a subpoena,
  513  through the Department of Legal Affairs, in any county of the
  514  state. Such subpoena is effective throughout the state and may
  515  be served by any sheriff. Failure to obey the subpoena is
  516  punishable as provided by general law.
  517         (f)This subsection does not authorize the members of any
  518  committee to have access to any grand jury proceedings.
  519         (g)A person who has attended a meeting of a committee or
  520  who has otherwise participated in activities authorized by this
  521  section may not be authorized or required to testify in any
  522  civil, criminal, or administrative proceeding as to any records
  523  or information produced or presented to a committee during
  524  meetings or other activities authorized by this section.
  525  However, this paragraph does not prevent any person who presents
  526  information to the committee or who is a member of the committee
  527  from testifying as to matters otherwise within his or her
  528  knowledge. An organization, institution, committee member, or
  529  other person who participates in or furnishes information, data,
  530  reports, or records to a committee is not liable for damages to
  531  any person and is not subject to any other civil, criminal, or
  532  administrative recourse. This paragraph does not apply to any
  533  person who admits to committing a crime.
  534         (6)DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH RESPONSIBILITIES.—
  535         (a)The Department of Health, or any political subdivision
  536  of the state operating a local review committee, may administer
  537  the funds appropriated to operate the review committees and may
  538  apply for grants and accept donations.
  539         (b)To the extent that funds are available, the Department
  540  of Health or any political subdivision of the state, may hire
  541  staff or consultants to assist a review committee in performing
  542  its duties. Funds may also be used to reimburse reasonable
  543  expenses of the staff and consultants for the committees.
  544         (c)For the purpose of carrying out the responsibilities
  545  assigned to the Suicide Death Review Committee and local review
  546  committees, the State Surgeon General or a county or city
  547  administrator may substitute an existing entity whose function
  548  and organization includes the function and organization of the
  549  committees established under this section.
  550         (7)DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES RESPONSIBILITIES.
  551  Each regional managing director of the Department of Children
  552  and Families shall appoint a local review representative for the
  553  region. The representative must have knowledge and expertise in
  554  the area of suicide. The representative’s general
  555  responsibilities include:
  556         (a)Coordinating with the local review committee.
  557         (b)Participating in the implementation of the suicide
  558  death review process and all regional activities related to the
  559  review of deaths from suicide.
  560         (c)Working with the Suicide Death Review Committee and the
  561  contracted managing entity to ensure that the reviews are
  562  thorough and that all issues are appropriately addressed.
  563         (d)Ensuring that all critical issues identified by the
  564  local review committee are brought to the attention of the
  565  regional managing director and the Secretary of Children and
  566  Families.
  567         (e)Providing technical assistance to the Suicide Death
  568  Review Committee during the review of any suicide death.
  569         (8)RULEMAKING.—The Department of Health shall adopt rules
  570  necessary to implement this section.
  571         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.