---
type: "Bill"
title: "\"Revised State Medical Examiner Act\"; establishes Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner in DOH."
description: "\"Revised State Medical Examiner Act\"; establishes Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner in DOH."
jurisdiction: "us/states/nj"
legislature: "New Jersey Legislature"
session: "218"
identifier: "S 976"
citation: "New Jersey S 976 (218)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["HEALTH PROF", "STATE OFFICE"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bateman, Christopher", "Lagana, Joseph A.", "Mukherji, Raj", "Vainieri Huttle, Valerie", "Vitale, Joseph F."]
version_count: 3
action_count: 16
vote_count: 9
first_action: "2018-01-16T05:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2018-07-03T04:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/15494ac0-d969-41c2-b1ff-50d23806dd15"
source_url: "http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/downloads.asp"
source_hash: "53f8f0db4e53282713eedfa85e1758848fdf063ae3bb3ce90006070238e1d5ab"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-nj"]
---

# New Jersey S 976 (218) — "Revised State Medical Examiner Act"; establishes Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner in DOH.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced Version** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2018/Bills/S1000/976_I1.HTM)
2. **Reprint** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2018/Bills/S1000/976_R1.HTM)
3. **Reprint Conditional Veto** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2018/Bills/S1000/976_R3.HTM)

## Votes

- Reported favorably out of committee — **11–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported out of Senate committee with amendments — **8–0** (pass) · upper
- 3RDG FINAL PASSAGE — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- ADOPT GR — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported favorably out of committee — **10–0** (pass) · lower
- CONCUR GOV REC — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- CONCUR GOV REC — **75–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported out of Senate committee with amendments — **13–0** (pass) · upper
- 3RDG FINAL PASSAGE — **71–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Bateman, Christopher — primary (person)
- Lagana, Joseph A. — primary (person)
- Mukherji, Raj — primary (person)
- Vainieri Huttle, Valerie — primary (person)
- Vitale, Joseph F. — primary (person)
- Gordon, Robert M. — cosponsor (person)
- Greenwald, Louis D. — cosponsor (person)
- Jimenez, Angelica M. — cosponsor (person)
- Pinkin, Nancy J. — cosponsor (person)
- Ruiz, M. Teresa — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2018-01-16T05:00:00+00:00** Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2018-02-15T05:00:00+00:00** Reported out of Senate Committee with Amendments, 2nd Reading `committee-passage`
- **2018-02-15T05:00:00+00:00** Referred to Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee `referral-committee`
- **2018-03-13T04:00:00+00:00** Reported out of Senate Committee with Amendments, 2nd Reading `committee-passage`
- **2018-03-26T04:00:00+00:00** Passed Senate (37-0) `passage`
- **2018-04-05T04:00:00+00:00** Received in the Assembly, Referred to Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee `referral-committee`
- **2018-04-05T04:00:00+00:00** Reported and Referred to Assembly Appropriations Committee `referral-committee`
- **2018-04-05T04:00:00+00:00** Reported out of Assembly Committee, 2nd Reading `committee-passage`
- **2018-04-12T04:00:00+00:00** Substituted for A1709 (1R)
- **2018-04-12T04:00:00+00:00** Passed Assembly (Passed Both Houses) (71-0-0) `passage`
- **2018-05-31T04:00:00+00:00** Conditional Veto, Received in the Senate `executive-veto`
- **2018-06-07T04:00:00+00:00** 2nd Reading on Concur with Governor's Recommendations (37-0)
- **2018-06-21T04:00:00+00:00** Passed Senate (39-0) `passage`
- **2018-06-21T04:00:00+00:00** Received in the Assembly, 2nd Reading - Concur. w/Gov's Recommendations
- **2018-06-25T04:00:00+00:00** Passed Assembly (Passed Both Houses) (75-0-0) `passage`
- **2018-07-03T04:00:00+00:00** Approved P.L.2018, c.62. `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/15494ac0-d969-41c2-b1ff-50d23806dd15`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official New Jersey legislature records).