Bill Text: NY S06428 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Provides for the establishment of a sexual assault victim bill of rights by the department of health, in consultation with the division of criminal justice services and the office of victim services; establishes a victim's right to notice.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 19-6)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2018-06-20 - COMMITTED TO RULES [S06428 Detail]
Download: New_York-2017-S06428-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6428--C Cal. No. 156 2017-2018 Regular Sessions IN SENATE May 18, 2017 ___________ Introduced by Sens. HANNON, AKSHAR, AMEDORE, AVELLA, CROCI, GALLIVAN, GOLDEN, HAMILTON, HELMING, JACOBS, KRUEGER, LARKIN, LAVALLE, MARCHIONE, MURPHY, O'MARA, PERALTA, PHILLIPS, RANZENHOFER, RITCHIE, ROBACH, SAVINO, TEDISCO, VALESKY, YOUNG -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Health -- recommitted to the Committee on Health in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- reported favorably from said committee, ordered to first and second report, ordered to a third reading, amended and ordered reprinted, retaining its place in the order of third reading -- again amended and ordered reprinted, retaining its place in the order of third reading -- again amended and ordered reprinted, retain- ing its place in the order of third reading AN ACT to amend the public health law and the executive law, in relation to establishing a sexual assault victim bill of rights; and to amend the executive law, in relation to maintenance of sexual assault evidence, establishing a victim's right to notice prior to destruction The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 6 of section 2805-i of the public health law is 2 renumbered subdivision 7 and a new subdivision 6 is added to read as 3 follows: 4 6. (a) The department, in consultation with the division of criminal 5 justice services, the office of victim services, hospitals, other health 6 care providers and victim advocacy organizations, shall publish a sexual 7 assault victim bill of rights for purposes of informing sexual offense 8 victims of their rights under state law. Such bill of rights shall be 9 prominently published on the department's website, in at least the ten 10 most common languages spoken in this state, and distributed to hospitals 11 as a document which shall be provided to every presenting sexual offense 12 victim. The department may update the bill of rights as necessary to 13 reflect changes in state law and more accurately explain the law. Such EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD11584-19-8S. 6428--C 2 1 bill of rights shall be in plain, easy to understand language, and 2 include the right of the victim to: 3 (1) consult with a local rape crisis or local victim assistance organ- 4 ization, to have a representative of such organization accompany the 5 victim through the sexual offense examination, and to have such an 6 organization be summoned by the medical facility, police agency, prose- 7 cutorial agency or other law enforcement agency before the commencement 8 of the physical examination or interview, pursuant to this section; 9 (2) be offered and have made available at no cost appropriate post-ex- 10 posure treatment therapies, including a seven day starter pack of HIV 11 post-exposure prophylaxis in accordance with paragraph (c) of subdivi- 12 sion one of this section and subdivision thirteen of section six hundred 13 thirty-one of the executive law; 14 (3) a health care forensic examination at no cost and the right to be 15 notified of the option to decline to provide private health insurance 16 information and have the office of victim services reimburse the hospi- 17 tal for the examination under subdivision thirteen of section six 18 hundred thirty-one of the executive law; 19 (4) receive information relating to and the provision of emergency 20 contraception in accordance with section twenty-eight hundred five-p of 21 this article; 22 (5) be offered contact information for the police agency, prosecutori- 23 al agency or other law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the 24 sexual offense and be informed, upon request of the victim, of the date 25 and location at which such sexual offense evidence kit was assessed for 26 Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) eligibility and analyzed, whether a 27 CODIS eligible profile was developed and whether or not a DNA match was 28 identified, provided, however, that the prosecutorial agency serving the 29 jurisdiction may temporarily delay release of such DNA match information 30 to the victim, prior to the arrest of a suspect alleged to have commit- 31 ted such offense, if such agency documents in writing and notifies the 32 victim that release of such information would compromise the successful 33 investigation of such sexual offense; 34 (6) be notified between thirty and ten days prior to the transfer of a 35 sexual offense evidence kit from the hospital to another storage facili- 36 ty in accordance with paragraph (h) of subdivision two of this section, 37 the right to have a sexual offense evidence kit maintained at an appro- 38 priate storage facility for twenty years from the date of collection, 39 the right, if not previously consented to, to consent to release the 40 evidence to law enforcement at any time during the twenty years from 41 collection, and the right to be notified by such facility at least nine- 42 ty days prior to the expiration of the twenty-year storage period in 43 accordance with paragraph (k) of subdivision two of this section; and 44 (7) be notified by the prosecutorial agency with jurisdiction of judi- 45 cial proceedings relating to their case in accordance with article twen- 46 ty-three of the executive law; and 47 (8) decide whether or not the victim wishes to report the offense to 48 law enforcement. 49 (b) Before a medical facility commences a physical examination of a 50 sexual offense victim, or a police agency, prosecutorial agency or other 51 law enforcement agency commences an interview of a sexual offense 52 victim, the health care professional conducting the exam, police agency, 53 prosecutorial agency or other law enforcement agency shall inform the 54 victim of the victim's rights and provide a copy of this sexual assault 55 victim bill of rights.S. 6428--C 3 1 § 2. Paragraph (f) of subdivision 1 of section 838-a of the executive 2 law, as added by chapter 6 of the laws of 2017, is amended, subdivision 3 3 is renumbered subdivision 4 and a new subdivision 3 is added to read 4 as follows: 5 (f) The failure of any such police agency, prosecutorial agency or 6 forensic laboratory to comply with a time limit specified in this 7 section or section eight hundred thirty-eight-b of this article shall 8 not, in and of itself, constitute a basis for a motion to suppress 9 evidence in accordance with section 710.20 of the criminal procedure 10 law. 11 3. Each police agency, prosecutorial agency and other law enforcement 12 agency within this state shall adopt policies and procedures concerning 13 contact with victims of sexual offenses, and the provision of informa- 14 tion to victims upon request, concerning sexual offense evidence 15 collected or received from them. The policies and procedures shall be 16 victim-focused, meaning systematically focused on the needs and concerns 17 of victims to ensure the compassionate and sensitive delivery of 18 services in a nonjudgemental manner, and shall include, at a minimum, a 19 requirement that: 20 (a) the police agency, prosecutorial agency or other law enforcement 21 agency designate at least one person, who is trained in trauma and 22 victim response through a program meeting minimum standards established 23 by the division of criminal justice services, following appropriate 24 guidelines on evidence-based, trauma-informed practices, which may 25 include guidelines from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 26 Administration, within its agency to receive all inquiries concerning 27 sexual offense evidence kits from victims; and 28 (b) at the time that a sexual offense evidence kit is collected, a 29 victim shall be provided with: (i) a copy of the victim bill of rights 30 described in subdivision six of section twenty-eight hundred five-i of 31 the public health law; and (ii) contact information, including a name, 32 phone number and e-mail address, for the individual designated pursuant 33 to paragraph (a) of this subdivision at the police agency, prosecutorial 34 agency or other law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the sexual 35 offense. 36 § 3. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 838-b to 37 read as follows: 38 § 838-b. Victim's right to notice. Each police agency, prosecutorial 39 agency and other law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over a sexual 40 offense shall, upon request of the victim who has consented to report 41 such offense to law enforcement, provide the sexual offense victim with 42 notice of the date and location at which sexual offense evidence 43 collected or received from such victim is assessed for CODIS eligibility 44 and analyzed, whether a CODIS eligible profile was developed and whether 45 or not a DNA match was identified, provided, however, that the prosecu- 46 torial agency serving the jurisdiction may temporarily delay release of 47 such DNA match information to the victim, prior to the arrest of a 48 suspect alleged to have committed such offense, if such agency documents 49 in writing and notifies the victim that release of such information 50 would compromise the successful investigation of such sexual offense. 51 The police or prosecutorial agency or other law enforcement agency in 52 possession of a sexual offense evidence kit shall notify the sexual 53 offense victim at least ninety days prior to the expiration of the twen- 54 ty-year storage period in accordance with paragraph (k) of subdivision 55 two of section twenty-eight hundred five-i of the public health law.S. 6428--C 4 1 § 4. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 2 it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, however, the addi- 3 tion, amendment, and/or repeal of any rules and regulations necessary to 4 implement the provisions of this act on its effective date, including 5 the compiling of the sexual assault victim bill of rights required by 6 section one of this act, are authorized and directed to be completed on 7 or before such effective date.
