Bill Text: NY A10067 | 2015-2016 | General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Provides for the processing of and maintenance of sexual offense evidence kits.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-06-16 - substituted by s8117 [A10067 Detail]

Download: New_York-2015-A10067-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          10067
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                      May 10, 2016
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by M. of A. SIMOTAS -- read once and referred to the Commit-
          tee on Codes
        AN ACT to amend the public health law and the executive law, in relation
          to the reporting, processing and secure transport  of  sexual  offense
          evidence kits
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. The section heading of section 2805-i of the public  health
     2  law,  as  amended by chapter 504 of the laws of 1994, is amended to read
     3  as follows:
     4    Treatment and reporting of sexual offense victims and  maintenance  of
     5  evidence in a sexual offense.
     6    §  2.  Subdivision  1  of  section  2805-i of the public health law is
     7  amended by adding a new paragraph (d) to read as follows:
     8    (d) reporting quarterly to the department on the disposition or trans-
     9  fer of all sexual offense evidence kits. The report shall detail,  at  a
    10  minimum,  how  many such kits under the hospital's care were transferred
    11  to law enforcement or forensic laboratories, to whom  they  were  trans-
    12  ferred and the date upon which they were transferred.
    13    § 3. The executive law is amended by adding two new sections 837-s and
    14  837-t to read as follows:
    15    §  837-s.  Processing  of sexual offense evidence kits. 1.  Subject to
    16  appropriations made for the purposes  of  this  section,  the  following
    17  requirements  shall  apply to all sexual offense evidence kits collected
    18  and surrendered to police  agencies  pursuant  to  section  twenty-eight
    19  hundred five-i of the public health law:
    20    (a)  all  sexual  offense evidence kits surrendered to police agencies
    21  shall be submitted to a forensic laboratory designated by  the  division
    22  for analysis within ten days of receipt;
    23    (b)  the  forensic  laboratory  receiving sexual offense evidence kits
    24  shall develop Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) eligible  profiles  from
    25  the  evidence  received  and report the results to the submitting police
    26  agency and local district attorney within ninety days of receipt;
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD13490-03-6
        A. 10067                            2
     1    (c) all sexual offense evidence kits received by police agencies prior
     2  to the effective date of this section shall be submitted to  a  forensic
     3  laboratory  within  one  hundred eighty days of such effective date, and
     4  such laboratories shall develop Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) eligi-
     5  ble  profiles  from  such  evidence  within  one  hundred twenty days of
     6  receipt; and
     7    (d) all police agencies shall report to the division quarterly on  all
     8  sexual  offense  evidence  kits  in  their possession. The first report,
     9  which shall be submitted no later than ninety days after  the  effective
    10  date  of  this  section, and reports filed thereafter shall include at a
    11  minimum the dates  on  which  the  sexual  offense  evidence  kits  were
    12  received  pursuant  to  the public health law, transmitted to a forensic
    13  laboratory and the dates on which the results were reported by the labo-
    14  ratory for each of the sexual offense evidence kits they received.
    15    2. The failure of a public servant to follow such procedure shall  not
    16  constitute a legal basis to suppress evidence.
    17    3. The division shall ensure that all police agencies are educated and
    18  aware of the requirements established under this section.
    19    §  837-t.  Secure transport of sexual offense evidence kits. The divi-
    20  sion, in conjunction with the division of  state  police  and  municipal
    21  police agencies, shall develop a system to coordinate the transportation
    22  of  sexual offense evidence kits to and from laboratories on a regularly
    23  scheduled basis, consistent with the requirements established in section
    24  eight hundred thirty-seven-s of this article, which shall reduce  dupli-
    25  cation  and  costs  associated  with  each police agency maintaining the
    26  chain of custody of evidence while transporting such evidence kits in  a
    27  timely manner.
    28    § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.