2023 New York Laws › EXC - Executive › Article 35 - Division of Criminal Justice Services › 838-A - Maintenance of Sexual Offense Evidence Kits.

§ 838-a. Maintenance of sexual offense evidence kits. 1. The following
requirements shall apply to all sexual offense evidence kits surrendered
to  or  collected by, at the request of, or with cooperation of a police
agency or prosecutorial agency:
(a) Each such police agency and prosecutorial agency shall submit  any
sexual offense evidence kits in its custody or control to an appropriate
forensic laboratory within ten days of receipt.
(b)  Each  forensic  laboratory receiving sexual offense evidence kits
after the effective date of this  section  shall  assess  case  specific
information  for  Combined  DNA Index System (CODIS) eligibility and, if
eligible, analyze  the  kits  and  attempt  to  develop  CODIS  eligible
profiles  of any potential perpetrators from the evidence submitted. The
forensic lab shall report the  results  to  the  submitting  agency  and
appropriate  prosecutorial  entity within ninety days after receipt of a
kit.
(c) Each police agency and prosecutorial agency that has one  or  more
sexual  offense  evidence  kit  in  its custody or control shall, within
ninety days after the effective date of this paragraph,  inventory  such
kits and report the total number of such kits to the division and to the
forensic  laboratory  where  such  kits  will  be  submitted pursuant to
paragraph (a) of this  subdivision.  The  division  shall  provide  such
inventories  to  the  senate  and  assembly  leaders by March first, two
thousand seventeen. Every police and prosecutorial agency  shall  update
this   report   each  month  thereafter  until  paragraph  (a)  of  this
subdivision has become effective.
(d) Each police agency and prosecutorial agency  that,  prior  to  the
effective  date  of  paragraph  (a) of this subdivision, has one or more
sexual offense evidence kits in its custody  or  control  shall,  within
thirty  days  after  the  effective  date  of  this  section, submit all
untested kits in its possession or control to  an  appropriate  forensic
laboratory.
(e)  Each  forensic  laboratory,  within one hundred twenty days after
receiving each sexual offense evidence kit pursuant to paragraph (d)  of
this  subdivision  shall  assess  case  specific  information  for CODIS
eligibility and, if eligible, analyze the kits and  attempt  to  develop
CODIS eligible profiles for any potential perpetrators and shall, within
ninety  days  of  such  assessment, report the results to the submitting
agency and the appropriate prosecutorial entity.
(f) The failure of any such police  agency,  prosecutorial  agency  or
forensic  laboratory  to  comply  with  a  time  limit specified in this
section or section eight hundred thirty-eight-b of  this  article  shall
not,  in  and  of  itself,  constitute  a basis for a motion to suppress
evidence in accordance with section 710.20  of  the  criminal  procedure
law.
2.  (a)  Each  forensic  laboratory  in  the state shall report to the
division, on a quarterly basis, in writing, on (i) the number of  sexual
offense  evidence  kits  it  received,  (ii)  the  number  of  such kits
processed for the  purpose  of  developing  Combined  DNA  Index  System
(CODIS)  eligible  profiles of any potential perpetrators, and (iii) the
number of kits not processed for testing,  including,  the  reason  such
kits were ineligible for processing.
(b)  Each  police  agency and prosecutorial agency shall report to the
division on a quarterly basis, in writing, on (i) the number of all  the
sexual  offense  evidence kits it received, (ii) the number of such kits
it submitted to a forensic laboratory for processing, (iii)  the  number
of  kits  in  its  custody  or  control that have not been processed for
testing, and (iv) the length of time between receipt of any such  sexual

offense  evidence kit and the submission of any such kit to the forensic
laboratory.
(c) The division shall provide to the senate and assembly leaders such
quarterly  reports  received  from  the  forensic  labs  and  police and
prosecutorial agencies pursuant  to  paragraphs  (a)  and  (b)  of  this
subdivision  by  January  first,  two  thousand  eighteen  and  annually
thereafter.
3. Each police agency, prosecutorial agency and other law  enforcement
agency  within this state shall adopt policies and procedures concerning
contact  with  victims  of  sexual  offenses,  and  the   provision   of
information  to victims upon request, concerning sexual offense evidence
collected or received from them. The policies and  procedures  shall  be
victim-focused, meaning systematically focused on the needs and concerns
of  victims  to  ensure  the  compassionate  and  sensitive  delivery of
services in a nonjudgemental manner, and shall include, at a minimum,  a
requirement that:
(a)  the  police agency, prosecutorial agency or other law enforcement
agency designate at least one person,  who  is  trained  in  trauma  and
victim  response through a program meeting minimum standards established
by the division of  criminal  justice  services,  following  appropriate
guidelines  on  evidence-based,  trauma-informed  practices,  which  may
include guidelines from the Substance Abuse and Mental  Health  Services
Administration,  within  its  agency to receive all inquiries concerning
sexual offense evidence kits from victims; and
(b) at the time that a sexual offense evidence  kit  is  collected,  a
victim  shall  be provided with: (i) a copy of the victim bill of rights
described in subdivision six of section twenty-eight hundred  five-i  of
the  public  health law; and (ii) contact information, including a name,
phone number and e-mail address, for the individual designated  pursuant
to paragraph (a) of this subdivision at the police agency, prosecutorial
agency or other law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the sexual
offense.
4.  The  division  shall undertake actions designed to ensure that all
police agencies and prosecutorial agencies in the state and all forensic
laboratories are educated and aware of the provisions of this section.