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emergency medical services to prisoners incarcerated in the <br /> county's jail and to pay for such services . That court decision <br /> further makes clear that a county operating a local confinement <br /> facility cannot avoid the statutory obligations set forth above <br /> by releasing from its custody prisoners in need of emergency <br /> care; and <br /> WHEREAS, the North Carolina Supreme Court, in the case of <br /> Spicer v. Williamson, 191 N.C. 487, 132 S.E.2d 291 (1926) , has <br /> held that the predecessors to the statutes cited above extend the <br /> duty of a county to pay the emergency medical care expenses of a <br /> prisoner not incarcerated in the county jail when the prisoner is <br /> otherwise in the lawful custody of the sheriff of the county; and <br /> WHEREAS, recently a pretrial detainee in the lawful custody <br /> of the Orange County Sheriff and being held in the Orange County <br /> jail attempted to escape prior to a court appearance by jumping <br /> out of a courthouse window which attempted escape resulted in <br /> serious injury requiring her to be hospitalized and treated at <br /> North Carolina Memorial Hospital at a cost of over $25,000 to <br /> Orange County; and <br /> WHEREAS, Article XI, Section 4 of the North Carolina <br /> Constitution, as interpreted by the North Carolina Supreme Court, <br /> places the responsibility on the State of North Carolina to pay <br /> for hospital care to its indigent residents; and <br /> WHEREAS, the North Carolina Legislature has mandated that a <br /> county is directly responsible for the emergency medical care of <br /> prisoners in the lawful custody of the county sheriff or <br /> 2 <br />