1. (a) The department shall reimburse the county in which an infant dies for the cost of an autopsy performed as required by Health and Safety Code §673.002 only if the primary cause of death is SIDS.
2. (b) Reimbursement by the department of all costs associated with an autopsy performed by any person or entity shall not exceed $500.
3. (c) The county judge for the county in which the infant died shall sign and submit a Texas Department of Health purchase voucher (voucher) to the Child Health and Safety Division requesting reimbursement for all costs of the autopsy. A county's claim for reimbursement shall also include a copy of the autopsy report.
4. (d) The department shall process the voucher and shall request the Comptroller of Public Accounts to issue a warrant for not more than $500 payable to the county in which the infant died, if the primary cause of death stated on the autopsy report is SIDS.
5. (e) The department shall process no more than one voucher requesting reimbursement of autopsy costs for an infant.
6. (f) Reimbursements to counties under this section shall be limited by the availability of funds.

Source Note:The provisions of this §37.173 adopted to be effective April 23, 2000, 25 TexReg 3271.