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ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Seventh Legislature, First Regular Session
tracking system; sexual assault kits
Purpose
Establishes the Sexual Assault Kit Evidence Tracking System (System) which accesses, tracks and updates the location and status of each sexual assault kit (SAK) as outlined and prescribes requirements for outlined entities to access System records.
Background
A health care facility that obtains written consent to
release SAK evidence must notify within 48 hours after collection the
investigating law enforcement agency (LEA), if known, or the LEA that has
jurisdiction where the facility is located. Each SAK that is submitted for
analysis must be analyzed as soon as practicable if sufficient personnel and
resources are available. A public accredited crime laboratory must ensure that
all eligible DNA profiles are uploaded into:
1) databases that are maintained by state or municipal LEAs, if the profile
meets the requirements of the state or municipal comparison policies; or 2) the
Federal Bureau of Investigation's combined DNA index system database if the
profile meets the requirements of the Bureau's comparison policies. An LEA
is the police department of any state, county, municipality or postsecondary
educational institution or for any agency that has an agreement in place for
evidence analysis (A.R.S.
§ 13-1426).
By December 1 of each year, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) must provide a report on the compilation of the reports that are received from authorized entities and post the Annual Report of SAKs on DPS's website (A.R.S. § 13-1427). The report for FY 2024 gathered information from 104 LEAs and found that: 1) a total of 1,735 SAKs were received; 2) 80.6 percent of those reports were subsequently submitted to a laboratory for analysis; and 3) 229 survivors utilized the Track-Kit System 1,698 times to view the progress of their SAKs (DPS).
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.
Provisions
1. Requires DPS to establish the System to track collected SAK evidence.
2. Requires a medical provider, an LEA, a public accredited crime laboratory or other person or entity that has custody or use of SAK evidence to submit that information to the System.
3. Requires the System to track the location and status of each SAK, including:
a) the initial collection of evidence for the SAK in a forensic medical examination;
b) the receipt and storage of the SAK at an LEA;
c) the receipt and analysis of the SAK at a public accredited crime laboratory; and
d) the storage and destruction of the SAK.
4. Requires the System to allow a health care facility that performs a forensic medical examination of a victim, an LEA, a public accredited crime laboratory, a prosecutor or another entity that provides a chain of custody for SAK evidence to update and track the status and location of the SAKs.
5. Requires the System to allow a victim to anonymously track and receive updates regarding the status and location of the victim's SAK evidence, with advance notification of destruction of the SAK.
6. Stipulates that SAK evidence records that are entered into the System are confidential, except that the records may be accessed by:
a) the victim for whom the SAK evidence was completed; or
b) an employee of an authorized entity for the purposes of updating or tracking the status or location of SAK evidence.
7. Defines terms.
8. Becomes effective on the general effective date.
House Action
JUD 2/12/25 DP 8-0-0-1
3rd Read 2/20/25 56-2-2
Prepared by Senate Research
March 10, 2025
KJA/AG/slp