Bill Text: IA HF376 | 2015-2016 | 86th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to untested sexual abuse evidence collection kits stored at law enforcement agencies. (See Cmte. Bill HF 2420)
Sponsorship: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 19-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-03-03 - Withdrawn. H.J. 414. [HF376 Detail]
Download: Iowa-2015-HF376-Introduced.html
House File 376 - Introduced HOUSE FILE BY ANDERSON, McCONKEY, H. MILLER, GASSMAN, GASKILL, BEARINGER, KEARNS, T. TAYLOR, STECKMAN, OURTH, STAED, RUNNING=MARQUARDT, BERRY, SMITH, HUNTER, BROWN=POWERS, THEDE, WOLFE, MASCHER, and HANSON A BILL FOR 1 An Act relating to untested sexual abuse evidence collection 2 kits stored at law enforcement agencies. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: TLSB 1323HH (9) 86 jm/rj PAG LIN 1 1 Section 1. SEXUAL ABUSE EVIDENCE COLLECTION KIT == 1 2 INVENTORY. 1 3 1. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise 1 4 requires: 1 5 a. "Laboratory" means the state criminalistics laboratory 1 6 or similar qualified laboratory. 1 7 b. "Law enforcement agency" means any governmental agency 1 8 that investigates persons suspected of or charged with a 1 9 sex abuse crime. "Law enforcement agency" also includes 1 10 any governmental agency that collects, stores, processes, 1 11 transmits, or disseminates analysis of evidence collected in 1 12 connection with a sexual abuse related crime. 1 13 c. "Forensic medical examination" means a sexual abuse 1 14 examination by a health care provider for the purpose of 1 15 gathering and preserving evidence of sexual abuse. 1 16 d. "Sexual abuse evidence collection kit" means a sexual 1 17 abuse evidence collection kit that includes a human biological 1 18 specimen collected by a health care provider during a forensic 1 19 medical examination conducted pursuant to section 709.10, 1 20 subsection 1. 1 21 e. "Untested sexual abuse evidence collection kit" means 1 22 a sexual abuse evidence collection kit collected pursuant to 1 23 section 709.10 that has not been submitted to a laboratory for 1 24 either a serology or deoxyribonucleic acid test. 1 25 2. The department of justice shall conduct a survey of law 1 26 enforcement agencies charged with the maintenance, storage, 1 27 or preservation of untested sexual abuse evidence collection 1 28 kits. The survey shall contain the following requirements or 1 29 questions: 1 30 a. Does your agency presently store untested sexual abuse 1 31 evidence collection kits? 1 32 b. Where does your agency store untested sexual abuse 1 33 evidence collection kits? 1 34 c. Please inventory all untested sexual abuse evidence 1 35 collection kits, and identify any of the following that apply: 2 1 (1) The unique identifier for the kit. 2 2 (2) The date the crime occurred. 2 3 (3) The date of examination and forensic collection. 2 4 (4) The reason for not submitting the kit to the laboratory 2 5 for analysis: 2 6 (a) The suspect has not been identified. 2 7 (b) The existence of doubt about the truthfulness of the 2 8 victim's accusation. 2 9 (c) The case has been dismissed. 2 10 (d) The uncertainty about the usefulness of the forensic 2 11 evidence in the untested sexual abuse evidence collection kit. 2 12 (e) The suspect has been identified but not formally 2 13 charged. 2 14 (f) Insufficient funds for testing the sexual abuse 2 15 evidence collection kit. 2 16 (g) The victim did not file charges. 2 17 (h) Whether consent was an issue in the case. 2 18 (i) Perceived laboratory guidelines. 2 19 (j) Other reasons. 2 20 d. (1) In the inventory of your agency, how many untested 2 21 sexual abuse evidence collection kits contain collected 2 22 forensic evidence that have not been sent to a laboratory? 2 23 (2) In the inventory of your agency, how many untested 2 24 sexual abuse evidence collection kits are held for which the 2 25 crime was not reported to law enforcement, but the kit was 2 26 still delivered to your law enforcement agency for storage? 2 27 e. How many untested sexual abuse evidence collection 2 28 kits has you law enforcement agency destroyed in the past two 2 29 calendar years? 2 30 f. Under what circumstances is an untested sexual abuse 2 31 evidence collection kit destroyed or disposed of by the agency? 2 32 Please identify any of the following that apply: 2 33 (1) Chain of evidence was compromised. 2 34 (2) Box or contents were tainted. 2 35 (3) Case is more than ten years old. 3 1 (4) Victim requested evidence be destroyed. 3 2 (5) Victim recanted report. 3 3 (6) Investigator has left agency. 3 4 (7) The agency has moved. 3 5 (8) Other circumstances. 3 6 3. The law enforcement agency shall submit the answers to 3 7 the survey to the department of justice by January 1, 2016. 3 8 If a law enforcement agency does not possess any untested 3 9 sexual abuse evidence collection kits, the agency shall provide 3 10 written confirmation of such a fact to the department of 3 11 justice by January 1, 2016. 3 12 4. a. The department of justice shall compile the results 3 13 of the survey and submit a written report to the general 3 14 assembly no later than March 15, 2016, detailing the results 3 15 of the survey. 3 16 b. The report shall also include the name and contact 3 17 information of each law enforcement agency that failed to 3 18 submit answers to the survey as required by subsection 3. 3 19 Sec. 2. IMPLEMENTATION OF ACT. Section 25B.2, subsection 3 20 3, shall not apply to this Act. 3 21 EXPLANATION 3 22 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 3 23 the explanation's substance by the members of the general assembly. 3 24 This bill relates to untested sexual abuse evidence 3 25 collection kits stored at law enforcement agencies. 3 26 The bill requires the department of justice to conduct 3 27 a survey of law enforcement agencies charged with the 3 28 maintenance, storage, or preservation of untested sexual 3 29 abuse evidence collection kits. The bill specifies numerous 3 30 requirements and questions that are to be a part of the survey 3 31 sent to law enforcement agencies. 3 32 The bill requires a law enforcement agency to submit the 3 33 answers to the survey to the department of justice by January 3 34 1, 2016. If a law enforcement agency does not possess any 3 35 untested sexual abuse evidence collection kits, the agency 4 1 shall provide written confirmation of such a fact to the 4 2 department of justice by January 1, 2016. 4 3 The bill requires the department of justice to compile 4 4 the results of the survey and submit a written report to 4 5 the general assembly no later than March 15, 2016, detailing 4 6 the results of the survey. The bill requires the report to 4 7 also include the name and contact information of each law 4 8 enforcement agency that failed to submit answers to the survey. 4 9 The bill defines a "law enforcement agency" to mean any 4 10 governmental agency that investigates persons suspected of 4 11 or charged with a sex abuse crime, including any such agency 4 12 that collects, stores, processes, transmits, or disseminates 4 13 analysis of evidence collected in a sexual abuse crime. 4 14 The bill may include a state mandate as defined in Code 4 15 section 25B.3. The bill makes inapplicable Code section 25B.2, 4 16 subsection 3, which would relieve a political subdivision from 4 17 complying with a state mandate if funding for the cost of 4 18 the state mandate is not provided or specified. Therefore, 4 19 political subdivisions are required to comply with any state 4 20 mandate included in the bill. LSB 1323HH (9) 86 jm/rj
