Florida Senate - 2021 SB 1002
By Senator Stewart
13-00904A-21 20211002__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to DNA evidence collected in sexual
3 offense investigations; providing a short title;
4 amending s. 943.326, F.S.; requiring the Department of
5 Law Enforcement, by a specified date and subject to
6 legislative appropriation, to create and maintain a
7 statewide database for tracking sexual offense
8 evidence kits; providing database requirements;
9 providing participation requirements; requiring the
10 department to ensure that alleged sexual offense
11 victims and certain other persons receive specified
12 notice and instructions and be informed that they are
13 entitled to access information regarding such kits and
14 evidence; providing requirements for such
15 notification; providing for implementation; providing
16 an effective date.
17
18 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
19
20 Section 1. This act may be cited as “Gail’s Law.”
21 Section 2. Subsection (4) of section 943.326, Florida
22 Statutes, is amended to read:
23 943.326 DNA evidence collected in sexual offense
24 investigations.—
25 (4) By January 1, 2017, The department and each laboratory
26 within the statewide criminal analysis laboratory system, in
27 coordination with the Florida Council Against Sexual Violence,
28 shall adopt and disseminate guidelines and procedures for the
29 collection, submission, and testing of DNA evidence that is
30 obtained in connection with an alleged sexual offense. The
31 timely submission and testing of sexual offense evidence kits is
32 a core public safety issue. Testing of sexual offense evidence
33 kits must be completed no later than 120 days after submission
34 to a member of the statewide criminal analysis laboratory
35 system.
36 (a) The guidelines and procedures must include the
37 requirements of this section, standards for how evidence is to
38 be packaged for submission, what evidence must be submitted to a
39 member of the statewide criminal analysis laboratory system, and
40 timeframes for when the evidence must be submitted, analyzed,
41 and compared to DNA databases.
42 (b) The testing requirements of this section are satisfied
43 when a member of the statewide criminal analysis laboratory
44 system tests the contents of the sexual offense evidence kit in
45 an attempt to identify the foreign DNA attributable to a
46 suspect. If a sexual offense evidence kit is not collected, the
47 laboratory may receive and examine other items directly related
48 to the crime scene, such as clothing or bedding or personal
49 items left behind by the suspect. If probative information is
50 obtained from the testing of the sexual offense evidence kit,
51 the examination of other evidence should be based on the
52 potential evidentiary value to the case and determined through
53 cooperation among the investigating agency, the laboratory, and
54 the prosecutor.
55 (c) The department shall, subject to appropriation by the
56 Legislature, no later than July 1, 2023, create and maintain a
57 statewide database to track the location, processing status, and
58 storage of sexual offense evidence kits which is accessible to
59 law enforcement agencies and alleged victims and other persons
60 listed in paragraph (1)(b). The database shall track the status
61 of the kits from the collection site throughout the criminal
62 justice process, including, but not limited to, the initial
63 collection at medical facilities, inventory and storage by law
64 enforcement agencies or crime laboratories, analysis at crime
65 laboratories, and storage or destruction after completion of
66 analysis. Law enforcement agencies, medical facilities, crime
67 laboratories, and any other facilities that collect, receive,
68 maintain, store, or preserve the kits shall participate in the
69 database, as required by the department.
70 (d) The department shall ensure that each alleged victim
71 and other person listed in paragraph (1)(b) is notified of the
72 existence of the database and provided with instruction on how
73 to access it and is informed that he or she is entitled to
74 access information regarding the alleged victim’s sexual offense
75 evidence kit, including tracking information, testing status,
76 and any DNA matches to a person deemed by investigators to be a
77 suspect or person of interest. However, notification of a DNA
78 match shall state only that a DNA match has occurred and may not
79 contain any genetic or other identifying information. Such a
80 notification may be delayed for up to 180 days if such
81 notification would, in the opinion of investigators, negatively
82 affect the investigation.
83 Section 3. The Department of Law Enforcement may phase in
84 initial participation in the statewide database for tracking
85 sexual offense evidence kits created in s. 943.326, Florida
86 Statutes, as amended by this act, according to region, volume of
87 kits, or other appropriate classifications; however, all
88 entities in the chain of custody of sexual offense evidence kits
89 shall fully participate in the statewide database no later than
90 1 year after its creation.
91 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021.