State statute does not specify a procedure for handling a sexual assault examination kit, only that written notice be given about victim rights and available resources.
Sponsored by Rep. Marion O'Neill (R-Maple Lake) and Sen. Jerry Relph (R-St. Cloud), HF3017/SF2863* aims to codify state law regarding kit handing.
Passed 121-0 by the House Tuesday — 13 days after it was passed 66-0 by the Senate — the bill now heads to the governor.
Its recommendations are based on a multi-disciplinary working group funded by the Public Safety Department’s Office of Justice Programs.
The bill would set consistent terminology, timeframes for kit handling and provide that victims have access to information about their kit by:
Failure to comply with the deadlines would not affect the admissibility of the results or create a basis for case dismissal.
The law enforcement agency would release to the victim or their designee, upon written request, the date the kit was submitted for forensic analysis, the date the agency received notice of the testing results and if a DNA profile was obtained from the testing.
Law enforcement agencies would need to adopt policies to govern the process of responding to victim requests to request reclassification of a kit if they initially do not want a kit submitted, but later change their mind. There is no current procedure for this.
A 2015 audit showed nearly 3,500 untested kits in police storage. While the numbers have decreased since then, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension can only process about 1,000 kits annually.
According to budget documents presented last session, the turnaround time for processing cases in the forensic science laboratories was 66 days in Fiscal Year 2016, 16 more than one year prior. However, the process for sexual assault kits can be as quick as three days for high-priority cases, such as those involving children or if a threat to public safety exists.