GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
H 1
HOUSE BILL 991
Short Title: Establish DMORT. (Public)
Sponsors: Representatives B. Jones and Colvin (Primary Sponsors).
For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
Referred to: Emergency Management and Disaster Recovery, if favorable, Rules, Calendar,
and Operations of the House
April 14, 2025
*H991 -v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE DISASTER MORTUAR Y OPERATIONAL RESPON SE 2
TEAM. 3
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 4
SECTION 1. Chapter 166A of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new 5
Article to read: 6
"Article 7. 7
"Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Teams. 8
"§ 166A-70. Purpose; establishment. 9
Purpose; Establishment. – There is hereby established the Disaster Mortuary Operational 10
Response Team within the Division of Emergency Management of the Department of Public 11
Safety. The purpose of DMORT is to support local mortuary services on location through 12
assisting emergency response and recovery operations after declared disasters. The Director of 13
Emergency Management shall oversee DMORT within the Division. 14
"§ 166A-71. Definitions. 15
Definitions. – The following definitions apply in this Article: 16
(1) Board. – The North Carolina Board of Funeral Service. 17
(2) Department. – The Department of Public Safety. 18
(3) Director. – The Director of the Division. 19
(4) Division. – The Division of Emergency Management of the Department of 20
Public Safety. 21
(5) DMORT. – Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team. 22
"§ 166A-72. Structure; organization. 23
(a) Objective. – DMORT shall consist of several licensed and trained professionals 24
whose primary goal is to respond to disaster areas or mass fatality incidents to identify victims, 25
reunite victims with family members and loved ones, recover, decontaminate, and examine 26
victims, and transport deceased individuals to families and counties of residence. 27
(b) Team Members. – DMORT team members shall consist of, at a minimum, all of the 28
following trained professionals: 29
(1) Licensed funeral directors. 30
(2) Licensed funeral service professionals. 31
(3) Medical examiners. 32
(4) Licensed dentists and dental hygienists. 33
(5) Licensed embalmers. 34 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 House Bill 991-First Edition
(6) Fingerprint specialists or examiners employed by or retired from the State 1
Bureau of Investigation. 2
(7) Administrative specialists employed by or retired from the Department of 3
Public Safety or any of its subdivisions. 4
(8) Various licensees of the Private Protective Services Board. 5
(9) Various trained forensic specialists. 6
(10) Trained diagnostic radiologic technologists. 7
(c) Oversight. – The Director of the Division shall oversee the organization of DMORT 8
and coordinate the development and updating of a response plan utilizing DMORT's primary 9
objectives. The Director shall integrate DMORT into the North Carolina Emergency Operations 10
Plan for disaster response and recovery. 11
(d) Expenses. – Within available appropriations, the Division shall spend the necessary 12
funds for training, equipment, and other items necessary to support the operations of DMORT. 13
The Division may also administer any grants of other funds made available for DMORT, in 14
accordance with applicable rules and regulations approved by the Director of the State Budget. 15
(e) Training. – The Division shall coordinate with DMORT for periodic training for 16
membership in DMORT for each team member and coordinate with the appropriate State 17
agencies and organizations, including the North Carolina Board of Funeral Service, the Medical 18
Care Commission, the Department of Health and Human Services, local emergency management 19
departments, first responder associations and organizations, and any other State agency or 20
organization the Division deems appropriate. 21
"§ 166A-73. Specialized operations; transportation services. 22
(a) Specialized Operations. – DMORT shall specialize in the following operations when 23
responding to a disaster: 24
(1) Tracking and documenting human remains and personal effects. 25
(2) Establishing temporary morgue facilities. 26
(3) Assisting in the determination of cause and manner of death. 27
(4) Collecting ante-mortem data. 28
(5) Collection of medical records, dental records, or DNA of victims from next of 29
kin to assist in victim identification. 30
(6) Performing postmortem data collection. 31
(7) Documentation during field retrieval and morgue operations. 32
(8) Performing forensic dental pathology and forensic anthropology methods. 33
(9) Preparing, processing, and returning human remains and personal effects to 34
appropriate recipients. 35
(10) Processing and re-internment of disinterred remains. 36
(11) Providing technical assistance and consultation on fatality management and 37
mortuary affairs. 38
(b) Transportation Services. – DMORT shall provide transportation services for the 39
returning of victims to counties of residence and family members for proper burial or cremation. 40
Any transportation service rendered after a disaster shall make all reasonable attempts to comply 41
with State and local law and Board rules when transporting human remains within the emergency 42
area in the State. Once the transportation of the human remains is outside the emergency area, 43
DMORT shall comply with all State and local laws and Board rules. 44
"§ 166A-74. Immunity. 45
Members of DMORT shall be protected from liability under the provisions of 46
G.S. 166A-19.60(a) while active on DMORT missions pursuant to authorization from the 47
Division." 48
SECTION 2. The Department of Public Safety, Division of Emergency 49
Management, and the North Carolina Board of Funeral Service may adopt rules to implement the 50 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
House Bill 991-First Edition Page 3
provisions of this act. Both the Division and the Board shall coordinate in rulemaking to 1
implement this act. 2
SECTION 3. Section 1 of this act becomes effective October 1, 2025. The remainder 3
of this act is effective when it becomes law. 4