AN ACT relating to sexual assault nurse examiners.

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AN ACT relating to sexual assault nurse examiners. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
Section 1. KRS 314.142 is amended to read as follows: 3
(1) The Kentucky Board of Nursing shall promulgate administrative regulations 4
pursuant to KRS Chapter 13A to create a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Program. 5
These administrative regulations shall address, at a minimum: 6
(a) Educational requirements for sexual assault nurse examiners and statewide 7
standards for provision of the education; 8
(b) The application process through which registered nurses who submit 9
documentation of requ ired education and clinical experience and who remit 10
the designated application fee may apply to the board to be credentialed as a 11
"Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner"; 12
(c) Continuing education requirements for maintenance of the sexual assault 13
nurse examiner credential; 14
(d) Methods of monitoring overall program implementation; and 15
(e) Procedures for obtaining input from the Sexual Assault Response Team 16
Advisory Committee est ablished under KRS Chapter 403 prior to proposing 17
amendments to any provision of the administrative regulations promulgated 18
under this section or KRS 314.131. 19
(2) Any person in this state who holds a credential as a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner 20
as defined in KRS 314.011(14) shall have the right to use the title "Sexual Assault 21
Nurse Examiner" and the abbreviation "SANE". No other person shall assume the 22
title or use the abbreviation or any other words, letters, signs, or figures to indicate 23
that the person using the same is a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner. 24
(3) The board shall employ a health professional as a statewide sexual assault nurse 25
examiner (SANE) coordinator to support the logistical operations of the SANE 26
Program and individual SANEs credentialed under this section. 27
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(4) The board shall establish a description, essential duties, and responsibilities of 1
the SANE coordinator position that shall include but not be limited to: 2
(a) Identifying and recruiting potential SANEs across the state; 3
(b) Organizing and facilitating comprehensive SANE training programs; 4
(c) Establishing and maintaining relationships with key stakeholders such as 5
hospitals, law enforcement agencies, rape crisis advocates, and others; and 6
(d) Increasing SANE Program collaboration by creating opportunities for 7
networking and building rapport among SANE training programs. 8
(5) The board shall collaborate with the Kentucky Hospital Association, the Cabinet 9
for Health and Family Services, the Sexual Assault Response Team Advisory 10
Committee, and any other entities deemed appropriate by the board, to develop a 11
statewide strategic plan that utilizes a regional model to ensure SANE coverage 12
for all Kentucky hospitals. The strategic plan shall be submitted to the Legislative 13
Research Commission for referral to the Interim Joint Committee on Health 14
Services by December 1, 2026. 15
(6) The board shall develop a state registry of SANEs and make it accessible from the 16
board's website by registered SANEs and Kentucky hospitals. The registry shall 17
be operational by December 1, 2026. 18
(7) The board shall notify each newly registered SANE that the state registry of 19
SANEs is available on the board's website as required in subsection (6) of this 20
section. 21
Section 2. KRS 403.707 is amended to read as follows: 22
(1) The Sexual Assault Response Team Advisory Committee is established. 23
(2) The Sexual Assault Response Team Advisory Committee shall be co -chaired by the 24
chief executive officer[director] of the Kentucky Association of Sex ual Assault 25
Programs or the chief executive officer's designee and the commissioner of the 26
Department of Kentucky State Police or the commissioner's designee. 27
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(3) The membership of the Sexual Assault Response Team Advisory Committee shall 1
consist of the following: 2
(a) The executive director of the Kentucky Board of Nursing or the executive 3
director's designee; 4
(b) The executive director of the Kentucky Nurses Association or the executive 5
director's designee; 6
(c) The executive director of the Kentucky Hospit al Association or the executive 7
director's designee; 8
(d) The chief executive officer[director] of the Children's Advocacy Centers of 9
Kentucky or the chief executive officer's designee [Kentucky Association of 10
Children's Advocacy Centers]; 11
(e) The director o f the Department of Kentucky State Police Crime Lab or the 12
director's designee; 13
(f) The commissioner of the Department for Community Based Services or the 14
commissioner's designee; 15
(g) The director of the Office of Victims Advocacy in the Office of the Atto rney 16
General or the director's designee; 17
(h) A sexual assault nurse examiner appointed by the secretary of the Cabinet for 18
Health and Family Services; 19
(i) A representative from a sexual assault response team appointed by the chief 20
executive officer[director] of the Kentucky Association of Sexual Assault 21
Programs; 22
(j) A physician appointed by the secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family 23
Services; and 24
(k) A Commonwealth's attorney or an assistant Commonwealth's attorney 25
appointed by the Attorney General. 26
(4) Members appointed unde r subsection (3)(h) to (k) of this section shall serve at the 27
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pleasure of the appointing authority and shall not serve longer than four (4) years 1
without reappointment. 2
(5) The Sexual Assault Response Team Advisory Committee shall: 3
(a) Serve in an advisory capacity to the Kentucky Board of Nursing in 4
accomplishing the duties set forth under KRS 314.142; 5
(b) Serve in an advisory capacity to the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet in the 6
development of the statewide sexual assault protocol required under KRS 7
216B.400(5); 8
(c) Develop a model protocol for the operation of sexual assault response teams 9
which shall include the roles of sexual assault nurse examiners, physicians, 10
law enforcement, prosecutors, and victim advocates; 11
(d) Provide assistance to each regio nal rape crisis center, as designated by the 12
Cabinet for Health and Family Services, in establishing a regional sexual 13
assault response team; 14
(e) Develop model policies for law enforcement agencies related to handling 15
sexual assault examination kits and in vestigating sexual assaults with a 16
victim-centered, evidence-based approach; 17
(f) [By January 1, 2018, report to the General Assembly on the results of the 18
analysis of previously untested sexual assault examination kits submitted to 19
the Department of Kentucky State Police forensic laboratory pursuant to 2016 20
Ky. Acts ch. 58, sec. 1, including whether analysis of those kits led to the 21
identification and prosecution of suspects and the cost to society of the 22
offenses committed by the suspects identified; 23
(g) ]By July 1 of each year [, 2018, and by each July 1 thereafter] , report to the 24
General Assembly and to the secretary of the Justice and Public Safety 25
Cabinet on the number of sexual assaults reported, the number of sexual 26
assault examination kits submitted t o the Department of Kentucky State 27
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Police forensic laboratory, the number of kits tested, and the number of 1
charges filed and convictions obtained in sexual assault cases in the previous 2
calendar year; 3
(g)[(h)] Provide information and recommendations conce rning the activities of 4
the agency or organization represented by each individual committee member 5
as related to sexual assault issues and programs within the purview of the 6
agency or organization; and 7
(h)[(i)] Recommend to the appropriate state agency any changes in statute, 8
administrative regulation, training, policy, and budget to promote a 9
multidisciplinary response to sexual assault. 10