2023 Rhode Island General Laws › Title 23 - Health and Safety › Chapter 23-98 - Sexual Assault Evidence Kits › Section 23-98-3. - Annual statewide inventory of sexual assault evidence kits.

§ 23-98-3. Annual statewide inventory of sexual assault evidence kits.
(a)
Within one hundred eighty (180) days of June 29, 2022, and annually thereafter, all medical facilities, law enforcement agencies, crime laboratories, and any other facilities that receive, maintain, store, or preserve sexual assault evidence kits (kits) shall submit a report containing the following information to the department of health:
(1)
The total number of all untested kits in possession of each medical facility, law enforcement agency, crime laboratory, and any other facility that receives, maintains, stores, or preserves kits;
(2)
For each kit the facility shall provide:
(i)
The category of the kit:
(A)
Whether sexual assault was reported to law enforcement; or
(B)
Whether the victim chose not to file a report with law enforcement.
(ii)
The status of the kit:
(A)
For kits of medical facilities: The date when the kit was reported to law enforcement, and the date when the kit was delivered to the state health laboratory;
(B)
For kits of a law enforcement agency: The date the kit was picked up from a medical facility, the date when the kit was submitted to a crime laboratory, and for any kit not submitted to a crime lab, the reason the kit was not submitted;
(C)
For kits belonging to another jurisdiction: The date that the jurisdiction was notified and the date the kit was picked up; and
(D)
For kits in possession of crime laboratories: The date the kit was received from law enforcement and from which agency the kit was received; the date when the kit was tested; the date when the resulting information was entered into CODIS or other relevant state or local DNA databases, and the reasoning, if applicable, that a kit was not tested or a DNA profile was not created;
(3)
The total number of kits in possession of the entity for more than thirty (30) days or beyond the statutory time frame for kit submission and testing; and
(4)
The total number of kits destroyed and the reason for destruction.
(b)
The department of health shall compile the data from the reports in a summary report. The summary report shall include a list of all agencies or facilities that failed to participate in the preparation of the report. The annual summary report shall be made publicly available on the department of health’s website, and shall be submitted to the governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, the president of the senate, and the office of the attorney general.
(c)
Within ninety (90) days of June 29, 2022, all previously untested kits in medical facilities or other facilities that collect kits shall be submitted to the appropriate law enforcement agency.
(d)
Within one hundred eighty (180) days of June 29, 2022, each law enforcement agency shall submit all previously untested kits, including those sexual assaults past the statute of limitations, to the accredited public crime laboratory or laboratories.
(1)
Anonymous or unreported kits are exempted from this section unless the victim files a report and consents to the testing of their kit.
(2)
Anonymous and unreported kits shall be safely stored by the state health laboratory in a manner that preserves evidence for a duration of ten (10) years or the applicable statute of limitations, whichever is greater.
(3)
Victims who do not file a report with law enforcement at the time the kit was collected shall not negate their right to report the crime and have the kit tested in the future.
(e)
An accredited public crime laboratory shall test all previously untested sexual assault kits within ninety (90) days of receipt from the local law enforcement agency.
(f)
Testing shall be pursued to develop autosomal DNA profiles that are eligible for entry into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) and local DNA databases.
(1)
With the goal of generating a CODIS-eligible DNA profile, if a laboratory is unable to obtain an autosomal CODIS-eligible DNA profile, the laboratory should evaluate the case to determine if any other DNA-typing results could be used for investigative purposes.
(2)
In cases where testing has resulted in a DNA profile, the laboratory shall enter the full profile into the Combined DNA Index System Database (CODIS) and local DNA databases. The average completion rate for this analysis and classification shall not exceed ninety (90) days.
(3)
If an accredited public crime laboratory is unable to meet the deadline set forth in subsection (f)(2) of this section, the kits shall be outsourced for testing to an accredited private crime laboratory.
History of Section.
P.L. 2022, ch. 354, § 1, effective June 29, 2022; P.L. 2022, ch. 355, § 1, effective June 29, 2022.