Existing law establishes the Sexual Assault Survivors' Bill of Rights, which grants a survivor certain rights relating to the investigation or prosecution of an alleged sexual assault perpetrated against the survivor. (Chapter 178A of NRS) Among other requirements, the Bill of Rights grants a survivor the right to not have forensic evidence from a sexual assault used: (1) to prosecute the survivor for any misdemeanor or offense related to a controlled substance; or (2) as a basis to search for further evidence of any unrelated misdemeanor or any offense related to a controlled substance that may have been committed by the survivor. (NRS 178A.260) Section 6 of this bill expands this right by prohibiting a law enforcement agency from using any biological evidence obtained from the sexual assault forensic evidence kit of a survivor or any biological evidence secured in connection with the investigation or prosecution of the alleged sexual assault of the survivor: (1) to prosecute the survivor for any crime; (2) as a basis to search for further evidence of any criminal offense that may have been committed by the survivor; or (3) for any other purpose that is not directly related to the investigation or prosecution of the alleged sexual assault of the survivor. Existing law prescribes requirements relating to certain biological evidence secured in connection with an investigation or prosecution of a criminal offense. (NRS 176.0912) With limited exception, section 3 of this bill prohibits a law enforcement agency from sharing with or disclosing to any person or entity any biological evidence of a survivor secured in connection with the investigation or prosecution of the alleged sexual assault of the survivor. Section 2 of this bill defines the term “biological evidence” for purposes of the Bill of Rights. Section 4 of this bill makes a conforming change to indicate the proper placement of section 2 in the Nevada Revised Statutes. Section 5 makes a conforming change related to the definition of “biological evidence” set forth in section 2. Existing law prescribes certain requirements relating to sexual assault forensic medical kits. Among other requirements, existing law requires: (1) a law enforcement agency to submit a sexual assault forensic evidence kit to the appropriate forensic laboratory; and (2) a forensic laboratory to accept and analyze such evidence and upload a DNA profile obtained from such evidence to CODIS or the State DNA Database. (NRS 178A.220, 200.3786) With limited exception, section 3 prohibits a law enforcement agency or forensic laboratory from including the DNA profile of a survivor obtained from the sexual assault forensic evidence kit of the survivor in any database that allows for the storage and exchange of DNA records. Section 7 of this bill requires, to the extent money is available for this purpose, the Central Repository for Nevada Records of Criminal History, the State DNA Database and each forensic laboratory to: (1) conduct an audit of certain biological specimens, DNA profiles and DNA records; and (2) submit the results of the audit to the Joint Interim Standing Committee on Judiciary and the Director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau on or before January 1, 2024.

Statutes affected:
As Introduced: 178A.020, 178A.220, 178A.260
Reprint 1: 178A.020, 178A.220, 178A.260
Reprint 2: 178A.020, 178A.220, 178A.260
As Enrolled: 178A.020, 178A.220, 178A.260
BDR: 178A.020, 178A.220, 178A.260