Amd §2805-i, Pub Health L; amd §838-a, add §838-b, Exec L
Provides for the establishment of a sexual assault victim bill of rights by the department of health, in consultation with the division of criminal justice services and the office of victim services; establishes a victim's right to notice.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A8401C
SPONSOR: Simotas TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the public health law and the execu-
tive law, in relation to establishing a sexual assault victim bill of
rights; and to amend the executive law, in relation to maintenance of
sexual assault evidence, establishing a victim's right to notice prior
to destruction
PURPOSE:
To provide for the establishment of a Sexual Assault Victim Bill of
Rights by the Department of Health, in consultation with the Division of
Criminal Justice Services (DCJS), the Office of Victim Services, hospi-
tals and other health care providers, and victim advocacy organizations.
This bill also establishes a Victim's Right to Notice about the status
of their sexual offense evidence kit.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends subdivision 6 of section 2805-i of the public health
law by renumbering it as subdivision 7 and adds a new subdivision 6 to
require the Department of Health, in consultation with DCJS, the Office
of Victim Services, hospitals and other health care providers, and
victim advocacy organizations to establish a Sexual Assault Victim Bill
of Rights for purposes of informing sexual assault victims of their
rights under state law.
Section 2 amends the executive law by renumbering the current subdivi-
sion 3 of section 838-a as subdivision 4 and adds a new subdivision 3 to
provide that each police agency, prosecutorial agency, and other law
enforcement agency shall adopt policies and procedures concerning
contact with sexual assault victims and the provision of information to
victims, upon request, concerning their sexual assault evidence kits.
Section 3 amends the executive law by adding a new section 838-b to
create a Victim's Right to Notice, which provides that a sexual assault
victim has the right to be notified of the date and location at which
their sexual offense evidence kit was assessed and analyzed, whether a
CODIS eligible profile was developed, and whether a DNA match was iden-
tified, provided that the police agency, prosecutorial agency, or other
law enforcement agency serving the jurisdiction may temporarily delay
release of DNA match information if it would compromise an ongoing
investigation.
Section 4 provides the effective date of this act.
JUSTIFICATION:
While New York has made great progress in strengthening our laws to
eliminate the backlog of rape kits statewide and prevent premature
destruction of evidence, it is clear that more must be done to support
sexual assault survivors through every stage of the criminal justice
process. This legislation requires the Department of Health, in consul-
tation with DCJS, the Office of Victim Services and other stakeholders,
to establish a Sexual Assault Victim Bill of Rights for purposes of
informing sexual assault victims of their rights under state law,
including the right to consult with a rape crisis or victim assistance
organization, the right to appropriate health care services at no cost,
and the right to receive updates on their sexual offense evidence kit
and the status of their case. Notifying victims of their legal rights
will help ensure survivors are aware of the services available to them
and provided with the information they need to navigate complicated
medical and criminal justice systems. Additionally, this bill requires
all law enforcement agencies to adopt policies for communicating with
survivors that are victim-focused and trauma-informed. Finally, this
legislation creates a Victim's Right to Notice to enable a survivor to
request information on their sexual offense evidence kit from the police
agency or prosecutorial agency with jurisdiction over the crime. Togeth-
er, these provisions will create greater transparency and accountability
and help ensure that all sexual assault survivors are treated with
dignity, compassion, and respect.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect 180 days after it becomes law, except that
effective immediately, the addition, amendment, and/or repeal of any
rules and regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this act
on its effective date, including the compiling of the Sexual Assault
Victim Bill of Rights, are authorized and directed to be completed on or
before such effective date.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8401--C
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
June 13, 2017
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SIMOTAS, OTIS, DINOWITZ, DICKENS, QUART,
DE LA ROSA, NIOU, RIVERA, MOSLEY, BARRON, McDONALD, ZEBROWSKI, CROUCH,
SIMON, GOTTFRIED, CAHILL, GIGLIO, HEVESI, PELLEGRINO, GALEF, GLICK,
WEPRIN, L. ROSENTHAL -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. ABBATE, BRAUN-
STEIN, M. L. MILLER -- read once and referred to the Committee on
Health -- recommitted to the Committee on Health in accordance with
Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- again
reported from said committee with amendments, ordered reprinted as
amended and recommitted to said committee -- reported and referred to
the Committee on Codes -- reported and referred to the Committee on
Ways and Means -- reported and referred to the Committee on Rules --
Rules Committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended
and recommitted to the Committee on Rules
AN ACT to amend the public health law and the executive law, in relation
to establishing a sexual assault victim bill of rights; and to amend
the executive law, in relation to maintenance of sexual assault
evidence, establishing a victim's right to notice prior to destruction
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 6 of section 2805-i of the public health law is
2 renumbered subdivision 7 and a new subdivision 6 is added to read as
3 follows:
4 6. (a) The department, in consultation with the division of criminal
5 justice services, the office of victim services, hospitals, other health
6 care providers and victim advocacy organizations, shall publish a sexual
7 assault victim bill of rights for purposes of informing sexual offense
8 victims of their rights under state law. Such bill of rights shall be
9 prominently published on the department's website, in at least the ten
10 most common languages spoken in this state, and distributed to hospitals
11 as a document which shall be provided to every presenting sexual offense
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11584-20-8
A. 8401--C 2
1 victim. The department may update the bill of rights as necessary to
2 reflect changes in state law and more accurately explain the law. Such
3 bill of rights shall be in plain, easy to understand language, and
4 include the right of the victim to:
5 (1) consult with a local rape crisis or local victim assistance organ-
6 ization, to have a representative of such organization accompany the
7 victim through the sexual offense examination, and to have such an
8 organization be summoned by the medical facility, police agency, prose-
9 cutorial agency or other law enforcement agency before the commencement
10 of the physical examination or interview, pursuant to this section;
11 (2) be offered and have made available at no cost appropriate post-ex-
12 posure treatment therapies, including a seven day starter pack of HIV
13 post-exposure prophylaxis in accordance with paragraph (c) of subdivi-
14 sion one of this section and subdivision thirteen of section six hundred
15 thirty-one of the executive law;
16 (3) a health care forensic examination at no cost and the right to be
17 notified of the option to decline to provide private health insurance
18 information and have the office of victim services reimburse the hospi-
19 tal for the examination under subdivision thirteen of section six
20 hundred thirty-one of the executive law;
21 (4) receive information relating to and the provision of emergency
22 contraception in accordance with section twenty-eight hundred five-p of
23 this article;
24 (5) be offered contact information for the police agency, prosecutori-
25 al agency or other law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the
26 sexual offense and be informed, upon request of the victim, of the date
27 and location at which such sexual offense evidence kit was assessed for
28 Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) eligibility and analyzed, whether a
29 CODIS eligible profile was developed and whether or not a DNA match was
30 identified, provided, however, that the police agency, prosecutorial
31 agency or other law enforcement agency serving the jurisdiction may
32 temporarily delay release of such DNA match information to the victim,
33 prior to the arrest of a suspect alleged to have committed such offense,
34 if such agency documents in writing and notifies the victim that release
35 of such information would compromise the successful investigation of
36 such sexual offense;
37 (6) be notified between thirty and ten days prior to the transfer of a
38 sexual offense evidence kit from the hospital to another storage facili-
39 ty in accordance with paragraph (h) of subdivision two of this section,
40 the right to have a sexual offense evidence kit maintained at an appro-
41 priate storage facility for twenty years from the date of collection,
42 the right, if not previously consented to, to consent to release the
43 evidence to law enforcement at any time during the twenty years from
44 collection, and the right to be notified by such facility at least nine-
45 ty days prior to the expiration of the twenty-year storage period in
46 accordance with paragraph (k) of subdivision two of this section; and
47 (7) be notified by the prosecutorial agency with jurisdiction of judi-
48 cial proceedings relating to their case in accordance with article twen-
49 ty-three of the executive law; and
50 (8) decide whether or not the victim wishes to report the offense to
51 law enforcement.
52 (b) Before a medical facility commences a physical examination of a
53 sexual offense victim, or a police agency, prosecutorial agency or other
54 law enforcement agency commences an interview of a sexual offense
55 victim, the health care professional conducting the exam, police agency,
56 prosecutorial agency or other law enforcement agency shall inform the
A. 8401--C 3
1 victim of the victim's rights by providing a copy of this sexual assault
2 victim bill of rights and offering to explain such rights.
3 § 2. Paragraph (f) of subdivision 1 of section 838-a of the executive
4 law, as added by chapter 6 of the laws of 2017, is amended, subdivision
5 3 is renumbered subdivision 4 and a new subdivision 3 is added to read
6 as follows:
7 (f) The failure of any such police agency, prosecutorial agency or
8 forensic laboratory to comply with a time limit specified in this
9 section or section eight hundred thirty-eight-b of this article shall
10 not, in and of itself, constitute a basis for a motion to suppress
11 evidence in accordance with section 710.20 of the criminal procedure
12 law.
13 3. Each police agency, prosecutorial agency and other law enforcement
14 agency within this state shall adopt policies and procedures concerning
15 contact with victims of sexual offenses, and the provision of informa-
16 tion to victims upon request, concerning sexual offense evidence
17 collected or received from them. The policies and procedures shall be
18 victim-focused, meaning systematically focused on the needs and concerns
19 of victims to ensure the compassionate and sensitive delivery of
20 services in a nonjudgemental manner, and shall include, at a minimum, a
21 requirement that:
22 (a) the police agency, prosecutorial agency or other law enforcement
23 agency designate at least one person, who is trained in trauma and
24 victim response through a program meeting minimum standards established
25 by the division of criminal justice services, following appropriate
26 guidelines on evidence-based, trauma-informed practices, which may
27 include guidelines from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
28 Administration, within its agency to receive all inquiries concerning
29 sexual offense evidence kits from victims; and
30 (b) at the time that a sexual offense evidence kit is collected, a
31 victim shall be provided with: (i) a copy of the victim bill of rights
32 described in subdivision six of section twenty-eight hundred five-i of
33 the public health law; and (ii) contact information, including a name,
34 phone number and e-mail address, for the individual designated pursuant
35 to paragraph (a) of this subdivision at the police agency, prosecutorial
36 agency or other law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the sexual
37 offense.
38 § 3. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 838-b to
39 read as follows:
40 § 838-b. Victim's right to notice. Each police agency, prosecutorial
41 agency and other law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over a sexual
42 offense shall, upon request of the victim who has consented to report
43 such offense to law enforcement, provide the sexual offense victim with
44 notice of the date and location at which sexual offense evidence
45 collected or received from such victim is assessed for CODIS eligibility
46 and analyzed, whether a CODIS eligible profile was developed and whether
47 or not a DNA match was identified, provided, however, that the police
48 agency, prosecutorial agency or other law enforcement agency serving the
49 jurisdiction may temporarily delay release of such DNA match information
50 to the victim, prior to the arrest of a suspect alleged to have commit-
51 ted such offense, if such agency documents in writing and notifies the
52 victim that release of such information would compromise the successful
53 investigation of such sexual offense. The police or prosecutorial agen-
54 cy or other law enforcement agency in possession of a sexual offense
55 evidence kit shall notify the sexual offense victim at least ninety days
56 prior to the expiration of the twenty-year storage period in accordance
A. 8401--C 4
1 with paragraph (k) of subdivision two of section twenty-eight hundred
2 five-i of the public health law.
3 § 4. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
4 it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, however, the addi-
5 tion, amendment, and/or repeal of any rules and regulations necessary to
6 implement the provisions of this act on its effective date, including
7 the compiling of the sexual assault victim bill of rights required by
8 section one of this act, are authorized and directed to be completed on
9 or before such effective date.
