Signed by Governor David Ige

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that establishes a Sexual Assault and Training Program.

Highlights:

• Establishes a Hawaii sexual assault and training program (Sec. 2).

• Requires the program to have regularly scheduled meetings in order to develop and maintain (Sec. 2):

• Guidelines for medical forensic examinations in the State to be issued to sexual assault programs, centers, county contractors, and other related facilities;

• A protocol for the collection of forensic evidence included within a sexual assault evidence collection kit;

• A statewide standard data set that includes status and location information;

• Policies and procedures for sex assault programs, centers, county contractors, and other related facilities that retain sexual assault evidence kits; and

• Appropriate language for disclosures that shall be made to any person undergoing a medical forensic examination, including but not limited to the storage time of a kit, when it may be disposed, and the individual’s ability to access the status of their kit.

• Requires the Department of the Attorney General to submit to legislative leadership a report detailing (Sec. 2):

• The number of sexual assault evidence collection kits (actual, reported, and unreported) collected in each county; 

• The number of kits that were submitted to a DNA laboratory and, of those, how many have been completed;

• The number of kits that were not submitted to a DNA laboratory;

• How many kits were disposed of; and

• The number of new prosecutions that resulted from DNA testing of kits collected prior to July 1, 2016.

• Specifies that an individual who undergoes a medical examination but does not file a police report (Sec. 2):

• May request that the unreported kit be held by the sexual assault program instead of a law enforcement agency;

• Has not waived their right to report the crime and to have the kit tested later; and

• Will be informed of the date their kit will be disposed of at the time of examination.

• Specifies that sexual assault victims have the right to receive a medical examination, regardless of whether or not they report the assault (Sec. 2).

• Requires that law enforcement agencies designate at least one person trained in trauma and victim response to recieve all inquiries about kits and serve as a liaison between the agency and the victims (Sec. 2). 

• Requires agencies in possession of unreported kits to store them for at least 6 years if the victim was 18 years or older at the time of the incident and at least 20 years if they were under 18 years old (Sec. 2).

• Requires agencies that collect kits to notify law enforcement (Sec. 2).

• Requires agencies to submit the DNA kit  after law enforcement takes the kit to submit it for DNA testing (Sec. 2).

• Requires, that in cases where there is  no conviction or acquittal, a law enforcement agency to retain the kit for 50 years or until the expiration on the statute of limitations (Sec. 2). 

• Specifies that failure of law enforcement to comply does not (Sec. 2):

• Constitute grounds to challenge the validity of DNA evidence;

• Justify a court to exclude any evidence generated from a kit; or

• Provide a basis for the accused or convicted to request that their case be dismissed or conviction set aside.

• Requires that each county establish an electronic tracking system for sexual assault kits by January 1, 2020. Specifies that the each system shall at a minimum (Sec. 2):

• Track the status of kits from specimen collection to final storage or disposal; and

• Allow sexual assault victims to access the system for the location and status of their kits.

Full Bill Text