(A) There is hereby established a Children’s Advocacy Center to coordinate the activities of the various agencies involved in the investigation, prosecution and treatment referrals of child sexual abuse. The Advisory Board shall serve as the governing board for the center, and by a majority of votes of its members, shall submit a proposed annual budget for the operation of the center to the County Board. The County Board may appropriate funds sufficient to operate the center. The county may also fund the center from grants, donations, third-party payors, and appropriation as the county deems to be appropriate. The county shall establish a Children’s Advocacy Center Fund, which shall be kept separate and apart from other county funds and shall only be used for the purposes of this Act.
(B) The Advisory Board shall pay from the Children’s Advocacy Center Fund the salaries of all employees of the center, all of whom shall be county employees, and the expenses of acquiring a physical plant for the center by construction or lease and maintaining the center, including the expenses of administering the coordination of the investigation, prosecution and treatment referral of child sexual abuse under the provisions of the protocol adopted pursuant to the Act.
(C) The Advisory Board of the center shall, by a majority of the vote of the members, authorize the center to coordinate activities of the various agencies involved in the investigation, prosecution and treatment referral of serious child physical abuse cases. The Advisory Board shall provide for the financial support of these activities in the manner set out in this chapter and shall submit a budget that includes support for physical abuse and neglect activities to the County Board, which shall appropriate funds that may be available pursuant to the referendum provisions of the Act and this chapter. The county may, at its sole discretion, appropriate funds for the center out of the general funds of the county, but shall not be obligated to do so.
(D) The Advisory Board shall have the authority to hire such employees as it deems to be necessary to carry out its mission. The Advisory Board shall be solely responsible for the operation, activities and approval of the expenditures of the Children’s Advocacy Center. The funds of the Children’s Advocacy Center shall be subject to audit by the county.
(1993 Code, § 41.02)