An Act to Establish a Statewide Sexual Assault Forensic Examination Kit Tracking System and Conduct an Inventory of Existing Forensic Examination Kits in the Possession of Law Enforcement
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 2129
Committee Amendment CA_A_H904 (House)
Amends: 25 MRSA §3821

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT " V \ " to H,P, 1353, L,D, 2129, "An Act to Establish
a Statewide Sexual Assault Forensic Examination Kit Tracking System and Conduct an
Inventory of Existing Forensic Examination Kits in the Possession of Law Enforcement"
Amend the bill in section 1 in subsection 3 by adding at the end a new blocked
paragraph to read :
'A law enforcement agency shall store a completed forensic examination kit involving
sexual assault for 20 years regardless of whether the alleged offense is reoorted_to a law
enforcement agency,'
Amend the bill in section 2 in §2915-A in subsection 1 in paragraph A in the 2nd line
(page 2, line 4 in L.D.) by striking out the following; "a laboratory licensed to provide" and
inserting the following; 'another laboratory that provides'
Amend the bill in section 2 in §2915-A in subsection 1 in paragraph C in the first line
(page 2, line 7 in L.D.) by inserting after the following; "examination kit"" the following:
'or "kit"'
Amend the bill in section 2 in §2915 -A by striking out all of subsection 2 (page 2, lines
20 to 40 and page 3, lines 1 to 4 in L,D.) and inserting the following:
'2. Forensic examination kit tracking system. The department shall establish.
operate and maintain a tracking system for all completed forensic examination kits,
regardless of whether the alleged offense relating to the kit was reported to a law
8 enforcement agency, that is continuously accessible to approved users.
A, The department shall establish, operate and maintain the tracking system through
the use of department personnel and resources and, to accomplish those duties, may
contract with public or private entities, including, but not limited to, software and
technology providers,
3 B. Approved users must adhere to the following procedures when entering information
for each kit into the tracking system, which must. at a minimum, collect the following
information,
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
•A".
.s..m>
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "f\" to H.P. 1353, L.D. 2129
CD A crime laboratory must enter into the tracking system each new and unused
kit and record the kit's intended destination before the kit leaves the possession of
the crime laboratory.
(2) A licensed health care provider must enter into the tracking system the date it
receives each kit from a crime laboratory.
(3) A licensed health care provider must identify when a kit was used for evidence
collection and enter into thetrackmg_sYstem the_date when the kit was used.
(4) A licensed health care provider must identify when a completed kit is
transferred to a law enforcement agency and to which law enforcement agency it
is transferred and enter into the tracking system the date when the kit was
transferred.
Ci) A licensed health care provider must identify when a kit is discarded based on
damage to the kit or its use in training and enter into the tracking system the date
on which the kit was discarded,
(6) A law enforcement agency must enter into the tracking system the date it
receives a completed kit and the location where the completed kit is being stored.
(T) A law enforcement agency in possession ofacomoleted kit must enter into the
tracking system the date that law enforcement agencv_reportsto a prosecuting
attorney JhaLa forensic examination has been performed pursuant to Title 24.
section 2986.
{8) A crime laboratory must identify when it has conducted an analysis of a
completed kit and enter into the tracking system the date of the analysis,
f9) A law enforcement agency that receives a kit after analysis from a crime
laboratory must identify when it received the kit and whether that kit was stored or
destroved,
C, The tracking system must provide for the updating and tracking of a forensic
examination kit as follows,
d) An alleged victim of sexual assault from whom forensic evidence has been
collected using a kit must have access to the tracking system on an anonymous and
secure basis for the purposes of receiving updates regarding the kit and tracking
the status_ofthe kit,
(2) A licensed health care pjovider, law enforcement agency, prosecuting attorneY
or any other entity in possession of a kit must have accessjo the tracking system
for the purposes of entering, updating and tracking the status and location of the
kit'
Amend the bill in section 2 in §2915-A by striking out all of subsection 5 (page 3, lines
12 to 34 in L,D.) and inserting the following:
'5. Report. The department shall report to the joint standing committee of the
Legislature having jurisdiction over criminal justice and public safety matters and the
Governor by January 1 . 2026. and annually thereafter, regarding the tracking system_The
report may include recommendations from the department for improved operation_ofthe
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
A"
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT " /-V" to H.P, 1353, L.D. 2129
ROS tracking system and must include the following information, identified by the county from
^"'^2'"" which a forensic examination kit was entered into the tracking system;
A. The number of reported kits and the number of anQnvmoys kits in the tracking
system and, of those kits, the number on which analysis has been completed and the
number on which analysis has not been completed;
B. The number of reported kits and the number of anonymous kits entered intothe
tracking system during the prior calendar year^and,ofthQsekits,^^^ which
analysis has been completed and the number on which analysis has not been conmleted;
C, The average and median lengths of time for forensic examination kits to be sent for
analysis after being entered into the tracking system and for analysis to be completed;
and
D, The number of reported forensic examination kits entered into the tracking system
for more than one year for which analysis has not been completed.
The State Police and any other law enforcement agency that performs its duties in more
than one county shall provide to the department tracking information for each county where
a forensic examination kit was entered into the tracking system,'
Amend the bill by striking out all of section 3 and inserting the following:
'See. 3. 25 MRSA §3821, 2nd ^ as amended by PL 2023, c, 236, §1, is further
amended to read:
If an alleged victim of sexual assault or strangulation has a forensic examination and
has not reported the alleged offense to a law enforcement agency when the examination is
complete, the licensed hospital or licensed health care practitioner that completed the
forensic examination shall notify the nearest law enforcement agency, That law
enforcement agency shall transport the completed forensic examination kit, identified only
by a tracking number assigned by the kit manufacturer, to its evidence storage facility. If
an alleged victim of sexual^ assault or strangulation has a forensic examination and has
reported the alleged offense to a law enforcement agency when the examination is
complete, or the alleged victim reports the alleged offense after the forensic examination
kit has been transported to the nearest law enforcement agency, the law enforcement agency
investigating the offense shall take possession of that kit, ¥be A law enforcement agency
shall store the forensic examination kits involving sexual assault for 20 years and forensic
examination kits involving only strangulation for 6 years, regardless of whether the alleged
offense relatine to the kit is reported to a law enforcement agency. If during that storage
period tho alleged victim reports the offense to a law enforcement agency, the investigating
5 agency shall take posseQsion of the forensic examination kit.
Sec. 4. Sexual assault forensic examination Idt inventory. By June 1, 2025,
all law enforcement agencies that receive, maintain, store or preserve forensic examination
8 kits shall complete an inventory of all kits in their possession and shall report their findings
to the Department of Public Safety, At a minimum, reported findings to the department
must include a breakdown by year by each agency of the number of:
1, Reported and anonymous kits received;
2, Reported kits that were never analyzed; and
3, Reported kits returned after analysis,
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "H " to H.P. 1353, L,D, 2129
fr.<Uyd»t<E,tte-4W
2023-24
0.000
$0
$0
$0
2023-24
$0
$0
2024-25
3,000
$217,959
$9,263
$227,222
2024-25
$117,363
$4,987
The department shall compile all agency findings and present a report of the inventory
by January 1, 2026 to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction
over criminal justice and public safety matters. At the same time, the department shall post
the report on its publicly accessible website.
See. 5. Appropriations and allocations. The following appropriations and
allocations are made.
PUBLIC SAFETY, DEPARTMENT OF
State Police 0291
Initiative: Provides funding for one Forensic Chemist II position, one Forensic Chemist I
position, one DNA Forensic Analyst position and related costs to establish, operate and
maintain a sexual assault forensic examination kit tracking system, perform an inventory
of all kits and develop an annual report on the tracking system.
GENERAL FUND
POSITIONS - LEGISLATIVE COUNT
Personal Services
AHOther
GENERAL FUND TOTAL
HIGHWAY FUND
Personal Services
All Other
HIGHWAY FUND TOTAL $0 $122,350
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or section
number to read consecutively,
SUMMARY
This amendment, which is the majority report of the committee, does the following.
1, It clarifies that all completed sexual assault forensic examination kits must be stored
by a law enforcement agency for 20 years and all completed strangulation forensic
examination kits must be stored for 6 years, regardless of whether or not the alleged victim
reported an alleged offense to a law enforcement agency.
2. It amends the information required to be collected by the sexual assault forensic
examination kit tracking system established by the Department of Public Safety and the
requirements for law enforcement agencies, licensed health care providers and crime
laboratories to ensure that the required information is recorded in the tracking system.
3. It changes the date that the department must submit its annual report regarding the
tracking system to January 1 st and the date of the first annual report to January 1, 2026,
4. It clarifies that the department's annual report must include data on both reported
and anonymous kits entered into the tracking system,
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "^ " to H.P. 1353, L.D. 2129
"A
5, It changes the date that the department must submit the kit inventory to Januaiy 1,
2026.
6. It creates appropriations and allocations for 3 new positions within the Department
of Public Safety to administer the kit tracking system and assist with kit testing,
FISCAL NOTE REQUHUED
(See attached)
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Approved: 03/14/24 ^K?Ct
LD 2129 LR 2786(02)
An Act to Establish a Statewide Sexual Assault Forensic Examination Kit Tracking System and
Conduct an Inventory of Existing Forensic Examination Kits in the Possession of Law Enforcement
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment 'j^" ( f~f-^
Committee: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
Fiscal Note Required: Yes
Fiscal Note
Potential State Mandate - Unfunded
FY 2023-24 FY 2024-25
$0 $227,222
$0 $122,350
Projections Projections
FY 2025-26 FY 2026-27
Net Cost (Savings)
General Fund
PIighway Fund
Appropriations/AlIocations
General Fund
Highway Fund
$0 $227,222
$0 $122,350
$235,030
$126,554
$235,030
$126,554
$243,580
$131,158
$243,580
$131,158
State IVIandates
Required Activity Unit Affected Local Cost
Requires law enforcement agencies to provide the Department of Public Safety Municipality Moderate
tracking information for each municipality/county where a forensic examination kit County statewide
was entered into the system and complete an inventory of all kits in its possession.
The required local activities in this bill may represent a state mandate pursuant to the Constitution of Maine. If the bill
does require a local unit of government to expand or modify its activities so as to necessitate additional expenditures
from local revenue, the state mandate provisions of the Constitution of Maine require either: (1) General Fund
appropriations be provided to fund at least 90% of any additional necessitated local costs of the mandate; or (2) a
Mandate Preamble be added to the bill and two-thirds of the members of each House vote to exempt the mandate from
the funding requirement. If the bill does represent a state mandate and neither one of these actions occurs, the local
units of government will not be required to implement the mandated activities.
Fiscal Detail and Notes
This bill includes a General Fund appropriation of $227,222 and a Highway Fund allocation of $122,350 in fiscal year
2024-25 to the Department of Public Safety to establish, operate and maintain a sexual assault forensic examinatio
kit trackmg system, perform an inventory of all kits and develop an annual report on the tracking system.
LR2786(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1