STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
10317
IN ASSEMBLY
May 17, 2024
___________
Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Paulin) --
read once and referred to the Committee on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to collecting and
reporting sexual offense evidence on the statewide electronic tracking
system
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (j) of subdivision 2 of section 2805-i of the
2 public health law, as amended by section 1 of part II of chapter 56 of
3 the laws of 2021, is amended to read as follows:
4 (j) Notwithstanding any other provision in this section, sexual
5 offense evidence shall not continue to be stored where: (i) such
6 evidence is not privileged and law enforcement requests its release, in
7 which case the custodian(s) shall comply with such request; or (ii) such
8 evidence is privileged and either (A) the alleged sexual offense victim
9 gives permission to release the evidence to law enforcement, upon which
10 law enforcement must retrieve the evidence within three days of such
11 permission and report such evidence in the statewide electronic tracking
12 system pursuant to subdivision eight of this section, or (B) the alleged
13 sexual offense victim signs a statement directing the custodian(s) to
14 dispose of the evidence, in which case the sexual offense evidence will
15 be discarded in compliance with state and local health codes.
16 § 2. Subdivision 8 of section 2805-i of the public health law, as
17 amended by chapter 31 of the laws of 2023, is amended to read as
18 follows:
19 8. (a) The division of criminal justice services in consultation with
20 the department, the office of victim services, the division of state
21 police, and the New York State Coalition Against Sexual Assault shall
22 develop a statewide electronic tracking system for reported evidence
23 collection kits used to collect and preserve evidence of a sexual
24 assault or other sex offense [that are submitted to the custody of law
25 enforcement]. Such statewide electronic tracking system shall not
26 include unreported evidence collection kits [not in the custody of law
27 enforcement], provided, however, that any unreported evidence collection
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15582-01-4
A. 10317 2
1 kits released by the office of victim services to law enforcement pursu-
2 ant to clause (A) of subparagraph (i) of paragraph j of subdivision two
3 of this section shall be designated as reported evidence collection kits
4 subject to the tracking requirements set forth in this subdivision.
5 (b) The division of criminal justice services shall promulgate rules
6 and guidelines to ensure that sexual assault evidence collection kits
7 [that are submitted to the custody of law enforcement] are trackable on
8 a statewide electronic tracking system developed pursuant to this subdi-
9 vision, and that survivors are given notice of how they may track their
10 own [sexual assault] reported evidence collection kit [after it has been
11 submitted to the custody of law enforcement]. Such rules and guidelines
12 shall require that (i) hospitals collecting evidence collection kits
13 record the collection of any reported evidence collection kits in the
14 electronic tracking system and notify the appropriate law enforcement
15 agency within forty-eight hours of such collection, and (ii) law
16 enforcement retrieve any reported evidence collection kit from a hospi-
17 tal within three days of being notified by a hospital that a reported
18 evidence collection kit has been collected. Any hospital, law enforce-
19 ment agency, forensic laboratory, or prosecutor that has taken custody
20 of an evidence collection kit used for a forensic medical examination
21 shall comply with the established protocols, rules and guidelines estab-
22 lished by the division of criminal justice services pursuant to this
23 paragraph.
24 (c) The statewide electronic tracking system shall:
25 (1) Track the location and status of each reported evidence collection
26 kit [after such kit has been submitted to the custody of law enforce-
27 ment] from collection to final disposition;
28 (2) Allow a hospital, law enforcement agency, accredited crime labora-
29 tory, prosecutor, employees of the long-term sexual offense evidence
30 storage facility, or any other entity providing a chain of custody for
31 [an] a reported evidence collection kit, to update and track the status
32 and location of the reported evidence collection kits [that have been
33 submitted to the custody of law enforcement]; and
34 (3) Allow a survivor to anonymously track or receive updates regarding
35 the status and location of such survivor's reported evidence collection
36 kit [that has been submitted to the custody of law enforcement].
37 (d) No later than January first, two thousand twenty-five, any hospi-
38 tal, law enforcement agency, accredited crime laboratory, prosecutor,
39 employee of the long-term sexual offense evidence storage facility, or
40 any other entity providing a chain of custody for [an] a reported
41 evidence collection kit to update and track the status and location of
42 such kit, shall participate in the tracking system and comply with all
43 established protocols, rules and guidelines. A participating entity
44 shall be permitted to access the entity's tracking information through
45 the statewide electronic tracking system.
46 (e) Records entered into the tracking system are confidential. Records
47 relating to [an] a reported evidence collection kit shall be accessed
48 only by the survivor for whom the reported evidence collection kit was
49 completed.
50 (f) The provisions of this subdivision shall apply to all reported
51 evidence collection kits submitted prior to, on, or after the effective
52 date of this subdivision.
53 (g) For purposes of this section:
54 (1) "evidence collection kit" shall mean a human biological specimen
55 or specimens collected by a healthcare provider during a forensic
A. 10317 3
1 medical examination from the victim of a sexual assault or other sex
2 offense; [and]
3 (2) "survivor" shall mean an individual who is the victim of a sexual
4 offense from whom a human biological specimen or specimens collected by
5 a healthcare provider during a forensic medical examination[.];
6 (3) "reported evidence collection kit" means a sexual assault evidence
7 kit in which the survivor has consented to evidence collection and
8 reporting the sexual assault or other sex offense to law enforcement;
9 and
10 (4) "unreported evidence collection kit" means evidence collection
11 kits controlled by the office of victims services pursuant to paragraph
12 (d) of subdivision two of this section.
13 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately, provided, however, that
14 the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation
15 necessary for the implementation of this act shall be completed within
16 three months of such effective date.