What's happening
This bill requires law enforcement agencies to inventory and report untested sexual offense evidence kits annually to improve accountability.
Why it matters
Creates a standardized, statewide process. for law enforcement agencies to track, inventory, and report on sexual offense evidence kits, which could help identify and address backlogs or disparities in evidence processing.
Requires detailed reporting. not just on the number of kits collected and tested, but also on untested kits and the reasons for delays, increasing transparency and potentially spotlighting systemic issues or resource limitations.
Mandates annual reporting to the legislature. , which could drive policy changes or funding decisions by ensuring lawmakers are regularly informed about the status and handling of sexual offense evidence kits.
May improve justice outcomes and victim trust. by encouraging timely evidence processing, thereby increasing the likelihood of identifying offenders and reducing opportunities for evidence to be overlooked or mishandled.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Track Untested Rape Kits
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Referred to finance
- Referred to finance
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
2286
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 23, 2019
Introduced by Sens. SANDERS, KRUEGER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Finance
AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to reports on untested sexual offense evidence collection kits
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 837-t to read as follows:
§ 837-t. Untested sexual offense evidence collection kit reports. 1. As used in this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
(a) "Forensic medical examination" shall mean an examination provided to the victim of a sexual offense by a health care provider for the purpose of gathering and preserving evidence of a sexual offense for use in a court of law;
(b) "Sexual offense evidence collection kit" shall mean a human biological specimen or specimens collected by a health care provider during a forensic medical examination from the victim of a sexual offense; and
(c) "Untested sexual offense evidence collection kit" shall mean a sexual offense evidence collection kit that has not been submitted to the New York state police laboratory or a similar qualified laboratory for either a serology or deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) test.
2. By July first, two thousand nineteen, and every first of July thereafter, all law enforcement agencies responsible for the taking and processing of sexual offense evidence collection kits shall conduct an inventory of all such kits being stored by the agency and report all of the following to the division:
(a) the number of sexual offense evidence collection kits the law enforcement agency collects;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07097-01-9
S. 2286 2
(b) the number of sexual offense evidence collection kits that are tested; and
(c) the number of untested sexual offense evidence collection kits and the reason such kits remain untested.
3. By the first of January, two thousand twenty, and every first of January thereafter, the division shall prepare and transmit a report to the appropriate policy committees of the legislature summarizing the information the division receives pursuant to subdivision two of this section.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the executive law, in relation to reports on untested sexual offense evidence collection kits
Purpose
To collect data on how many sexual offense collection kits are collected, how many are tested and how many remain untested.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 amends the executive law by adding a new section 837-t provid- ing by July 1, 2019, and every July 1 thereafter, all law enforcement agencies responsible for the taking and processing of sexual offense evidence collection kits shall conduct an inventory of all such kits being stored by the law enforcement agency and report to the Division of Criminal Justice Services: (a) the number of sexual offense evidence collection kits the law enforcement agency collects; (b) the number of sexual offense evidence collection kits that are tested (submitted to the New York State Police Laboratory or a similar qualified laboratory for either a serology or DNA test); and (c) the number of untested sexu- al offense evidence collection kits and the reason such kits remain untested.
By January 1, 2020, and every January 1 thereafter, the Division of Criminal Justice Services shall prepare and transmit a report to the appropriate policy committees of the legislature summarizing the infor- mation.
Section 2 provides this act shall take effect immediately.
Existing law
New Law
Justification
It is a compelling interest of the state to establish policies combating sexual offenses, which includes efforts to solve such crimes. In order to enact prudent policy, the state must have pertinent data. Reporting on the numbers of kits collected and tested will help determine how effective sexual offense evidence collection has been and what improve- ments can be made.
Legislative history
2016 S.7229 Referred to Finance 2017-18 S.4513 Referred to Finance
Fiscal implications
None
Local fiscal implications
None
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.