HB719: Physical evidence recovery kits; victim's right to notification, storage.

Legislative Summary

Physical evidence recovery kits; victim's right to notification; storage. Provides that for a physical evidence recovery kit that (i) was collected by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner as part of a routine death investigation and the medical examiner and the law-enforcement agency agree that analysis is not warranted, (ii) was determined by the law-enforcement agency not to be connected to a criminal offense, or (iii) is connected to an offense that occurred outside of the Commonwealth or another law-enforcement agency has taken over responsibility of the investigation and such kit is not transferred to another law-enforcement agency, the law-enforcement agency that received the physical evidence recovery kit shall store such kit for a period of 10 years or until 10 years after the victim reaches the age of majority if the victim was a minor at the time of collection, whichever is longer. The bill provides that after the mandatory retention period, the law-enforcement agency may destroy the physical evidence recovery kit, or in its discretion, may elect to retain the physical evidence recovery kit for a longer period of time. The bill also provides that when a state or local law-enforcement agency located within the Commonwealth has taken over responsibility for the investigation related to the physical evidence recovery kit, unless one of the other exceptions for submitting such kit to the Department of Forensic Science applies, the physical evidence recovery kit shall be transferred to such law-enforcement agency and such law-enforcement agency shall submit the physical evidence recovery kit to the Department of Forensic Science within 60 days of receipt from the original receiving law-enforcement agency. Physical evidence recovery kits; victim's right to notification; storage. Provides that for a physical evidence recovery kit that (i) was collected by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner as part of a routine death investigation and the medical examiner and the law-enforcement agency agree that analysis is not warranted, (ii) was determined by the law-enforcement agency not to be connected to a criminal offense, or (iii) is connected to an offense that occurred outside of the Commonwealth or another law-enforcement agency has taken over responsibility of the investigation and such kit is not transferred to another law-enforcement agency, the law-enforcement agency that received the physical evidence recovery kit shall store such kit for a period of 10 years or until 10 years after the victim reaches the age of majority if the victim was a minor at the time of collection, whichever is longer. The bill provides that after the mandatory retention period, the law-enforcement agency may destroy the physical evidence recovery kit, or in its discretion, may elect to retain the physical evidence recovery kit for a longer period of time. The bill also provides that when a state or local law-enforcement agency located within the Commonwealth has taken over responsibility for the investigation related to the physical evidence recovery kit, unless one of the other exceptions for submitting such kit to the Department of Forensic Science applies, the physical evidence recovery kit shall be transferred to such law-enforcement agency and such law-enforcement agency shall submit the physical evidence recovery kit to the Department of Forensic Science within 60 days of receipt from the original receiving law-enforcement agency. The bill also requires the law-enforcement agency to inform the victim, parent, guardian, or next of kin of the unique identification number assigned to the physical evidence recovery kit utilized by the health care provider and the personal identification number required to view the status of the physical evidence recovery kit and provide information regarding the Physical Evidence Recovery Kit Tracking System, unless disclosing this information would interfere with the investigation or prosecution of the offense, in which case the victim, parent, guardian, or next of kin shall be informed of the estimated date on which the information may be disclosed, if known.