Signed by Governor Michael Dunleavy

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that amends criminal justice regulations.

Highlights:

• Defines the crime of sexual assault in the second degree as the following (Sec. 4):

• The offender engages in sexual contact with another person without consent of that person;

• The offender engages in sexual contact with a person who the offender knows in mentally incapable and in under the offender’s care either by authority of law or in a facility or program that is required by law to be licensed by the state;

• The offender engages in sexual penetration with a person kno the offender knows in mentally incapable, incapacitated, or is unaware that a sexual act is being committed; or

• The offender engages in sexual contact with a person who the offender knows is unaware that a sexual act is being committed and the offender is a health care worker, and the offense takes place during the course of professional treatment of the victim.

• Defines the crime of sexual assault in the third degree as the following (Sec. 4):

• The offender engages in sexual contact with a person who the offender knows is mentally incapable, incapacitated, or unaware that  a sexual act is being committed;

• While employed in a state correctional facility for the custody and care of prisoners, the offender engages in sexual penetration with a person who the offender knows is committed to the custody of the Department of Corrections to serve a term of imprisonment or period of temporary commitment;

• The offender engages in sexual penetration with a person 18 or 19 years old and knows is committed to the custody of the Department of Health and Social Services and the offender is the legal guarding of the person;

• While employed in the state by a law enforcement agency as a peace officer, the offender engages in sexual penetration with a person with reckless disregard that the person is in custody;

• While employed by the state or a municipality of the state as a probation officer or parole officer, or while acting as a probation officer or parole officer in the state, the offender engages in sexual penetration with a person with reckless disregard that the person is on probation or parole; or

• While employed as a juvenile probation officer or as a juvenile facility staff, the offender engages in sexual penetration with a person 18 or 19 years old with reckless disregard that the person is committed to the custody or probationary supervision of the Department of Health and Social Services.

• Requires law enforcement to do take the following actions after they collect a sexual examination kit (Sec. 132):

• Within 30 days after collection of the kit, send the kit to an accredited laboratory in coordination with or operated by the Department of Public Safety;

• Ensure that the laboratory to which the kit is sent conducts a serological or DNA test on the kit within one year after the laboratory receives the kit; and

• Within 2 weeks after the laboratory that receives the kit completes serological or DNA testing, make a reasonable effort to notify the victim from whom the kit was collected.

• Requires each law enforcement agency and state department charged with the maintenance, storage, and preservation of sexual assault examination kits to conduct an inventory of untested sexual assault examination kits and report in writing to the Department of Public Safety, the number of untested kits in possession of the agency or department, the number of kits they have determined to be ineligible to testing with reason by they have been deemed ineligible, the date on which each untested kit were determined ineligible, and the date on which untested kits were collected, by September 1 of each year (Sec. 133).

Full Bill Text