Title: Establishes A Sexual Assault Training Program
Vote to pass a bill that establishes a Sexual Assault and Training Program.
Establishes a Hawaii sexual assault and training program (Sec. 2).
Requires the program to have regularly scheduled meetings in order to develop and maintain (Sec. 2):
Guidelines for medical forensic examinations in the State to be issued to sexual assault programs, centers, county contractors, and other related facilities;
A protocol for the collection of forensic evidence included within a sexual assault evidence collection kit;
A statewide standard data set that includes status and location information;
Policies and procedures for sex assault programs, centers, county contractors, and other related facilities that retain sexual assault evidence kits; and
Appropriate language for disclosures that shall be made to any person undergoing a medical forensic examination, including but not limited to the storage time of a kit, when it may be disposed, and the individual’s ability to access the status of their kit.
Requires the Department of the Attorney General to submit to legislative leadership a report detailing (Sec. 2):
The number of sexual assault evidence collection kits (actual, reported, and unreported) collected in each county;
The number of kits that were submitted to a DNA laboratory and, of those, how many have been completed;
The number of kits that were not submitted to a DNA laboratory;
How many kits were disposed of; and
The number of new prosecutions that resulted from DNA testing of kits collected prior to July 1, 2016.
Specifies that an individual who undergoes a medical examination but does not file a police report (Sec. 2):
May request that the unreported kit be held by the sexual assault program instead of a law enforcement agency;
Has not waived their right to report the crime and to have the kit tested later; and
Will be informed of the date their kit will be disposed of at the time of examination.
Specifies that sexual assault victims have the right to receive a medical examination, regardless of whether or not they report the assault (Sec. 2).
Requires that law enforcement agencies designate at least one person trained in trauma and victim response to recieve all inquiries about kits and serve as a liaison between the agency and the victims (Sec. 2).
Requires agencies in possession of unreported kits to store them for at least 6 years if the victim was 18 years or older at the time of the incident and at least 20 years if they were under 18 years old (Sec. 2).
Requires agencies that collect kits to notify law enforcement (Sec. 2).
Requires agencies to submit the DNA kit after law enforcement takes the kit to submit it for DNA testing (Sec. 2).
Requires, that in cases where there is no conviction or acquittal, a law enforcement agency to retain the kit for 50 years or until the expiration on the statute of limitations (Sec. 2).
Specifies that failure of law enforcement to comply does not (Sec. 2):
Constitute grounds to challenge the validity of DNA evidence;
Justify a court to exclude any evidence generated from a kit; or
Provide a basis for the accused or convicted to request that their case be dismissed or conviction set aside.
Requires that each county establish an electronic tracking system for sexual assault kits by January 1, 2020. Specifies that the each system shall at a minimum (Sec. 2):
Track the status of kits from specimen collection to final storage or disposal; and
Allow sexual assault victims to access the system for the location and status of their kits.
Title: Establishes A Sexual Assault Training Program
Title: Establishes A Sexual Assault Training Program