Amendment ID: S2481-15

Amendment 15

Criminal Justice Corrective - Rape Kits

Mr. Brownsberger moves to amend the amendment by inserting at the end thereof the following new sections:-

SECTION XX. Section 97B1/2 of Chapter 41 of the General Laws, as inserted by Section 24 of Chapter 69 of the Acts of 2018, is hereby amended by striking it in its entirety and replacing it therewith:

Section 97B½.  (a) A hospital licensed pursuant to chapter 111 and all other medical facilities that conduct medical forensic examinations shall notify a local law enforcement agency at the time the evidence of a sexual assault is obtained and no later than 24 hours after using a new kit for the collection of sexual assault evidence.

(b)  Local law enforcement agencies shall:

(1)  Take possession of the sexual assault evidence kit from hospitals and other medical facilities that conduct medical forensic examinations within 3 business days of notification.

(2)  Submit new sexual assault evidence kits to the crime laboratory within the department of the state police or  the police department of a municipality that operates a crime laboratory and has a population of more than 150,000, in the case of a sexual assault alleged to have taken place in that municipality, within 7 business days of taking possession, except that non-investigatory sexual assault evidence kits associated with a victim who has not yet filed a report with law enforcement shall not be subject to the 7 day requirement. Non-investigatory kits shall be safely stored by law enforcement in a manner that preserves evidence for the duration of the statute of limitations for all sexual assault and rape cases.

(c)  The crime laboratory within the department of the state police or the police department of a municipality that operates a crime laboratory and has a population of more than 150,000, in the case of a sexual assault alleged to have taken place in that municipality, shall process all sexual assault evidence kits for the presence of biological evidence within 30 days of receipt from local law enforcement.

(d)  In cases where subsequent testing results in a DNA profile, the crime laboratory shall enter all eligible DNA profiles into the CODIS database system in accordance with established CODIS regulations.

(e)  Each sexual assault evidence kit shall be entered into the statewide sexual assault evidence kit tracking system pursuant to section 18X of chapter 6A.

SECTION XX. Subsection c of section 97B1/2 of Chapter 41, as inserted by Section 24 of Chapter 69 of the Acts of 2018, shall take effect on January 1, 2019.