Bill Text: MI HB5795 | 2017-2018 | 99th Legislature | Engrossed
Bill Title: Civil rights; sex discrimination and harassment; office of college campus sexual assault ombudsman; create within department of civil rights. Create new act.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2018-06-07 - Referred To Committee Of The Whole [HB5795 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2017-HB5795-Engrossed.html
HB-5795, As Passed House, May 24, 2018
SUBSTITUTE FOR
HOUSE BILL NO. 5795
A bill to create the office of the higher education sexual
assault prevention, advocacy, and resource officer within the
department of civil rights; to prescribe the powers and duties of
the office, the advocacy officer, and certain state governmental
officers and entities; and to provide for an appropriation.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the
"higher education sexual assault prevention, advocacy, and resource
officer act".
Sec. 2. As used in this act:
(a) "Advocacy officer" means the higher education sexual
assault prevention, advocacy, and resource officer.
(b) "Department" means the department of civil rights.
(c) "Institution of higher education" means a degree- or
certificate-granting public or private college or university,
junior college, or community college in this state.
(d) "Office" means the office of the higher education sexual
assault prevention, advocacy, and resource officer created under
this act.
(e) "Sexual assault" means a violation or attempted violation
of section 520b, 520c, 520d, 520e, or 520g of the Michigan penal
code, 1931 PA 328, MCL 750.520b, 750.520c, 750.520d, 750.520e, and
750.520g.
Sec. 3. (1) The office of the higher education sexual assault
prevention, advocacy, and resource officer is created within the
department.
(2) The principal executive officer of the office of the
higher education sexual assault prevention, advocacy, and resource
officer is the higher education sexual assault prevention,
advocacy, and resource officer who shall be appointed by and serve
at the pleasure of the department. An individual appointed to serve
as the higher education sexual assault prevention, advocacy, and
resource officer must be qualified by training and experience to
perform the duties and exercise the powers of the higher education
sexual assault prevention, advocacy, and resource officer and the
office of the higher education sexual assault prevention, advocacy,
and resource officer as provided in this act.
Sec. 4. Under the supervision of the department, exercised in
consultation with experts on sexual assault and sexual harassment,
including, but not limited to, the Michigan domestic and sexual
violence prevention and treatment board created under Executive
Order No. 2012-17, the advocacy officer shall do all of the
following:
(a) Advocate for students at institutions of higher education
who may be victims of sexual assaults committed on the campuses of
those institutions or at programs, activities, or events sponsored
or otherwise provided or supported by those institutions.
(b) Encourage institutions of higher education to improve the
quality and coordination of services they provide to assist
students who may be victims of sexual assaults on their campuses or
at programs, activities, or events that they sponsor or otherwise
provide or support.
(c) Encourage institutions of higher education to improve the
quality and coordination of preventive and corrective measures
taken by those institutions to mitigate the likelihood and effects
of sexual assaults on their campuses or at programs, activities, or
events that they sponsor or otherwise provide or support,
including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(i) Institutional policies, procedures, and protocols for
responding to and reporting incidents of sexual assaults of
students.
(ii) Sexual assault prevention and response training for
institutional personnel.
(iii) Sexual assault prevention and response presentations or
courses for students.
(iv) Publication of information about campus and community
resources available to student-victims of sexual assaults.
(d) Promote public awareness of the issue of sexual assault at
institutions of higher education.
(e) Provide information and referral services to students who
may be victims of sexual assaults at institutions of higher
education to ensure that their rights are protected.
(f) Provide information to students who may be victims of
sexual assaults at institutions of higher education regarding
programs and services provided for them by each level of
government.
(g) Promote new services, when necessary, for student-victims
of sexual assaults at institutions of higher education.
(h) Maintain statistics, facts, and data pertaining to the
incidence and nature of sexual assaults of students at institutions
of higher education.
(i) Provide technical assistance to institutions of higher
education regarding preventive and corrective measures to mitigate
the likelihood and effects of sexual assaults on their campuses or
at programs, activities, or events that they sponsor or otherwise
provide or support.
(j) Coordinate efforts to identify campus sexual assault
systems' response practices in order to remove barriers to victims
receiving helping services and reporting, and, as needed, convene
working group and campus response experts to identify gaps and
solutions.
(k) Coordinate and collaborate with the department of state
police, the department of health and human services, and any other
state agency with responsibilities that include preventing sexual
assault on college campuses to review and evaluate the use of state
funds dedicated to sexual assault prevention, including, but not
limited to, grants awarded under the campus sexual assault grant
program administered by the Michigan state police, and make
recommendations to state agencies, the legislature, and the
governor regarding proposed legislation, rules, hearings, future
funding allocations, and investigations considered necessary or
proper to promote student safety at institutions of higher
education.
Sec. 5. Under the supervision of the department, the advocacy
officer may do any of the following:
(a) Except as otherwise provided by law and with the written
consent of a student who may be a victim of sexual assault, obtain
access to all information, records, and documents in the possession
of an institution of higher education pertaining to the possible
sexual assault and that the advocacy officer considers necessary in
the performance of his or her duties set forth in section 4.
(b) Request and receive from an institution of higher
education a progress report concerning the processing of any report
of sexual assault made to the institution by a student.
Sec. 6. (1) The advocacy officer shall submit an annual report
on the conduct of the office to the department and the chairpersons
of all committees in both houses of the legislature responsible for
the oversight of institutions of higher education. A report under
this section must be posted to the department's website, must
address specific issues as prescribed by the department, and must
not disclose the identity of any individual who may have been
involved in any way, as a complainant, respondent, witness, or
otherwise, in any alleged sexual assault.
(2) In addition to the annual report described in subsection
(1), the office may, as needed, provide intermediate reports
relating to specific matters of concern.
Sec. 7. Except as provided in section 11 of the child
protection law, 1975 PA 238, MCL 722.631, any communication between
the advocacy officer and any person regarding a possible sexual
assault shall be treated as confidential.
Sec. 8. Any record owned, used, possessed, or retained by the
office in the performance of an official function of the office,
and all records kept by the advocacy officer, are exempt from
disclosure under the freedom of information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL
15.231 to 15.246.
Sec. 9. The department shall promulgate rules to implement
this act pursuant to the administrative procedures act of 1969,
1969 PA 306, MCL 24.201 to 24.328.
Sec. 10. The legislature shall annually appropriate a sum
sufficient to implement this act.
Enacting section 1. This act takes effect 90 days after the
date it is enacted into law.
