SENATE BILL 475

53rd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2017

INTRODUCED BY

Mimi Stewart

AN ACT

RELATING TO SEXUAL ASSAULT; REQUIRING LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT POLICIES RELATED TO HANDLING AND TESTING OF SEXUAL ASSAULT EXAMINATION KITS; REQUIRING TESTING OF SEXUAL ASSAULT EXAMINATION KITS WITHIN THIRTY DAYS; REQUIRING REPORTING.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. Section 30-9-19 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2006, Chapter 104, Section 10) is amended to read:

     "30-9-19. SEXUAL ASSAULT--LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY POLICIES--SUBMISSION OF DNA SAMPLES BY LAW ENFORCEMENT AND LABORATORIES.--

          A. [Samples from] By October 1, 2017, every law enforcement agency shall develop and implement a policy that:

                (1) prescribes how the agency handles a sample of biological material collected pursuant to a medical examination of a sexual assault victim that is received by the agency;

                (2) provides how the agency prioritizes a sample for DNA testing by the agency's servicing laboratory; and

                (3) requires the agency to send a sample of biological material collected pursuant to a medical examination of a sexual assault victim [shall be submitted by the investigating law enforcement agency] to that agency's servicing laboratory for DNA testing as soon as practicable after receiving the sample and, in all cases, within thirty days of the agency's receipt of the sample.

          B. Records derived from DNA testing that qualify for insertion into CODIS shall be submitted by the servicing laboratory to the administrative center.

          C. By November 1 of each year, a law enforcement agency's servicing laboratory shall report to the legislature if, at the end of the immediately preceding fiscal year, the laboratory had in its possession three hundred or more untested samples of biological material collected pursuant to medical examinations of sexual assault victims.

          [B.] D. As used in this section:

                (1) "administrative center" means the law enforcement agency or unit that administers and operates the DNA identification system pursuant to the provisions of the DNA Identification Act;

                (2) "biological material" means material that is derived from a human body and includes bodily fluids, hair and skin cells;

                (3) "CODIS" means the federal bureau of investigation's "combined DNA index system", a national DNA index system for storage and exchange of DNA records submitted by forensic DNA laboratories;

                (4) "DNA" means deoxyribonucleic acid;

                (5) "DNA testing" means a forensic DNA analysis that includes restriction fragment length polymorphism, polymerase chain reaction or other valid methods of DNA typing performed to obtain identification characteristics of samples; and

                (6) "sample" means a sample of biological material sufficient for DNA testing."

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