Upon January 15, 1998, title and control of all equipment in the office of the Escambia County Coroner shall be transferred by Escambia County to the county medical examiner and to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences. The Escambia County Commission shall establish a Medical Examiner Fund. Thereafter, all funds previously appropriated by the county commission to the office of coroner shall be appropriated to the Medical Examiner Fund. The appropriation shall be in the amount agreed to between the county commission and the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences each year, but the amount shall not be less than the amount appropriated to the office of the coroner in the Escambia County 1997-98 fiscal year budget. The senior state medical examiner in Region IV of the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, in conjunction with the Escambia County Medical Examiner, shall review the funding of the county medical examiner each year with the Escambia County Commission to assure adequate support for the investigations of death in the county.