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HB0062a -1- HB 62
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HOUSE BILL NO. 62
IN THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA
THIRTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE - FIRST SESSION
BY THE HOUSE RULES COMMITTEE BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR
Introduced: 1/22/25
Referred: Judiciary, Finance
A BILL
FOR AN ACT ENTITLED
"An Act relating to sexual assault examination kits; establishi ng the sexual assault 1
examination kit tracking system; and providing for an effective date." 2
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 3
* Section 1. AS 12.61.010(a) is amended to read: 4
(a) Victims of crimes have the following rights: 5
(1) the right to be present during any proceeding in 6
(A) the prosecution and sent encing of a defendant if the 7
defendant has the right to be pre sent, including being present during testimony 8
even if the victim is likely to be called as a witness; 9
(B) the adjudication of a minor as provided under 10
AS 47.12.110; 11
(2) the right to be notified by the appropriate law enforcemen t agency 12
or the prosecuting attorney of any request for a continuance th at may substantially 13
delay the prosecution and of the date of trial, sentencing, inc luding a proceeding 14
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HB 62 -2- HB0062a
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before a three-judge panel under AS 12.55.175, an appeal, and a ny hearing in which 1
the defendant's release from custody is considered; 2
(3) the right to be notified th at a sentencing hearing or a co urt 3
proceeding to which the victim has been subpoenaed will not occur as scheduled; 4
( 4 ) t h e r i g h t t o r e c e i v e p r o t e c t i o n f r o m h a r m a n d t h r e a t s o f harm 5
arising out of cooperation with law enforcement and prosecution efforts and to be 6
provided with information as to the protection available; 7
(5) the right to be notified of the procedure to be followed t o apply for 8
and receive any compensation under AS 18.67; 9
(6) at the request of the prosecution or a law enforcement age ncy, the 10
right to cooperate with the crimin al justice process without lo ss of pay and other 11
employee benefits except as authorized by AS 12.61.017 and with out interference in 12
any form by the employer of the victim of crime; 13
(7) the right to obtain access to immediate medical assistance and not 14
to be detained for an unreasonable length of time by a law enfo rcement agency before 15
having medical assistance administered; however, an employee of t h e l a w 16
enforcement agency may, if necessary, accompany the person to a medical facility to 17
question the person about the criminal incident if the question ing does not hinder the 18
administration of medical assistance; 19
(8) the right to make a written or oral statement for use in p reparation 20
of the presentence report of a felony defendant; 21
(9) the right to appear persona lly at the defendant's sentenci ng hearing 22
to present a written statement and to give sworn testimony or a n unsworn oral 23
presentation; 24
(10) the right to be informed by the prosecuting attorney, at any time 25
after the defendant's convicti on, about the complete record of the defendant's 26
convictions; 27
(11) the right to notice under AS 12.47.095 concerning the status of the 28
defendant found not guilty by reason of insanity; 29
(12) the right to notice under AS 33.16.087 of a hearing conce rning 30
special medical parole of the defendant; 31
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(13) the right to notice under AS 33.16.120 of a hearing to co nsider or 1
review discretionary parole of the defendant; 2
(14) the right to notice under AS 33.30.013 of the release or escape of 3
the defendant; [AND] 4
(15) the right to be notified orally and in writing of and rec eive 5
information about the office of victims' rights from the law en forcement officer 6
initially investigating the crime and from the prosecuting atto r n e y a s s i g n e d t o t h e 7
offense; at a minimum, the infor mation provided must include th e address, telephone 8
number, and Internet address of the office of victims' rights; this paragraph 9
(A) applies only to victims of felonies and to victims of clas s A 10
misdemeanors if the class A misde meanor is a crime involving do mestic 11
violence or a crime against a person under AS 11.41; if the vic tim is an 12
unemancipated minor, the law enforcement officer and the prosec uting 13
attorney shall also provide the notice required by this paragra ph to the parent 14
or guardian of the minor; 15
(B) is satisfied if, at the time of initial contact with the c rime 16
victim, the investigating officer and prosecuting attorney each give each crime 17
victim a brochure or other written material prepared by the off ice of victims' 18
rights and provided to law enforcement agencies for that purpose; and 19
(16) the right to be notified of the location and testing date o f a 20
sexual assault examination kit collected from the victim. 21
* Sec. 2. AS 44.41.065 is amended to read: 22
Sec. 44.41.065. Sexual assault examination kits. (a) When [A LAW 23
ENFORCEMENT AGENCY COLLECTS] a sexual assault examination kit is used to 24
gather evidence under AS 18.68.010, [THE AGENCY SHALL] 25
(1) a health care provider that gath ers the evidence shall, no late r 26
than 14 days after using the sexual assault examination kit to gather the evidence, 27
notify the appropriate law enforcement agency that the sexual a ssault 28
examination kit is available to be sent to an accredited laboratory in coordination 29
w i t h t h e D e p a r t m e n t o f P u b l i c S a fety or a laboratory operated b y the 30
Department of Public Safety; 31
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(2) a law enforcement agency that is notified by the health ca re 1
provider under (1) of this subsection or that uses a sexual ass ault examination kit 2
to gather the evidence shall 3
(A) no later than 20 [ W I T H I N 3 0 ] d a y s a f t e r receiving 4
notification from the health care provider or using the sexual assault 5
examination kit to gather the evidence [THE AGENCY COLLECTS THE 6
SEXUAL ASSAULT EXAMINATION KIT], send the sexual assault 7
examination kit to an accredited laboratory in coordination wit h the 8
Department of Public Safety or a laboratory operated by the Dep artment of 9
Public Safety; and 10
(B) no later than 14 days [(2) ENSURE THAT THE 11
LABORATORY TO WHICH THE SEXUAL ASSAULT EXAMINATION 12
KIT IS SENT UNDER (1) OF THIS SUBSECTION CONDUCTS A 13
SEROLOGICAL OR DNA TEST ON THE SEXUAL ASSAULT 14
EXAMINATION KIT WITHIN SIX MONTHS AFTER THE 15
LABORATORY RECEIVES THE SEXUAL ASSAULT EXAMINATION 16
KIT; AND 17
( 3 ) W I T H I N T W O W E E K S ] a f t e r t h e l a b o r a t o r y t h a t r e c e i v e s t h e 18
sexual assault examination kit under [(1) OF] this subsection c ompletes serological or 19
DNA testing, make a reasonable effort to notify the victim from whom the sexual 20
assault examination kit was collected that the sexual assault e xamination kit has been 21
tested; and 22
(3) a laboratory to which the s exual assault examination kit i s sent 23
shall, no later than 120 days after the laboratory receives the sexual assault 24
examination kit, conduct a serological or DNA test on the sexua l assault 25
examination kit. 26
(b) A criminal action may not be dismissed nor the evidence de emed 27
nonadmissible for failure to be t ested within the times establi shed in (a) [(a)(1) AND 28
(2)] of this section. 29
(c) If a case is resolved before a sexual assault examination kit is tested, a 30
health care provider, law enforcement agency , or laboratory in possession of the 31
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sexual assault examination kit is not required to meet the time limits established in 1
(a) of this section. 2
(d) In this section, 3
(1) "law enforcement agency" has [AND "AGENCY" HAVE] the 4
meaning given [TO "LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY"] in AS 12.36.090; 5
(2) "victim" has the meaning given in AS 11.41.470. 6
* Sec. 3. AS 44.41.065 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 7
(e) A health care provider, law enforcement agency, or laborat ory in 8
possession of a sexual assault examination kit shall enter info rmation specified by the 9
Department of Public Safety into the sexual assault examination kit tracking system 10
under AS 44.41.067. The information must be entered at the time and in the form and 11
manner specified by the Department of Public Safety. 12
* Sec. 4. AS 44.41 is amended by adding a new section to read: 13
Sec. 44.41.067. Sexual assault examin ation kit tracking system. (a) The 14
Department of Public Safety sha ll develop and operate a sexual assault examination 15
kit tracking system to track the status and location of a sexua l assault examination kit 16
from the point of evidence collection to serological or DNA testing. 17
(b) The sexual assault examination kit tracking system must al low the victim 18
from whom the sexual assault examination kit was collected to a ccess the tracking 19
information associated with the kit and, if the victim chooses, receive automated 20
notifications of the status of the kit. 21
(c) The sexual assault examination kit tracking system is conf idential and is 22
not a public record under AS 40.25.110 - 40.25.140, except that t h e D e p a r t m e n t o f 23
Public Safety may include information from the tracking system in the report required 24
under AS 44.41.070. 25
* Sec. 5. AS 44.41.070(a) is repealed. 26
* Sec. 6. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 27
read: 28
TRANSITION: REGULATIONS. The Department of Public Safety may ad opt 29
regulations necessary to implement the changes made by this Act . The regulations take effect 30
under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) but not before th e effective date of the law 31
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HB 62 -6- HB0062a
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implemented by the regulation. 1
* Sec. 7. Section 6 of this Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c). 2