Bill Text: IL HB4856 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Amends the Sexual Assault Evidence Submission Act. Provides that if a consistent DNA profile has been identified by comparing the submitted sexual assault evidence with a known standard from a suspect or with DNA profiles in the CODIS database, the Illinois State Police shall notify the investigating law enforcement agency of the results in writing within 7 days after notification. Provides that within 5 days after receiving notification, the investigating law enforcement agency must: (1) send acknowledgment to the Illinois State Police or designated laboratory that the law enforcement agency has received the notification; and (2) provide any additional information concerning the match to the Illinois State Police or the designated laboratory as requested by the Illinois State Police or designated laboratory. Provides that the Illinois State Police or designated laboratory shall also provide to the investigating law enforcement agency, within 30 days after a consistent DNA profile has been identified of (i) any case-to case match that may assist in the investigation of a criminal case and (ii) any verified match that identifies a suspect or offender. Provides that the sexual assault evidence tracking system must allow the investigating law enforcement agency to prohibit access to information regarding DNA matches and follow-up investigations to the victim if the law enforcement agency would determine that doing so would interfere with the investigation or prosecution of the crime.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-02-07 - Referred to Rules Committee [HB4856 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HB4856-Introduced.html

---

103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 HB4856 Introduced , by Rep. Sonya M. Harper SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
725 ILCS 202/15
725 ILCS 202/50
Amends the Sexual Assault Evidence Submission Act. Provides that if a consistent DNA profile has been identified by comparing the submitted sexual assault evidence with a known standard from a suspect or with DNA profiles in the CODIS database, the Illinois State Police shall notify the investigating law enforcement agency of the results in writing within 7 days after notification. Provides that within 5 days after receiving notification, the investigating law enforcement agency must: (1) send acknowledgment to the Illinois State Police or designated laboratory that the law enforcement agency has received the notification; and (2) provide any additional information concerning the match to the Illinois State Police or the designated laboratory as requested by the Illinois State Police or designated laboratory. Provides that the Illinois State Police or designated laboratory shall also provide to the investigating law enforcement agency, within 30 days after a consistent DNA profile has been identified of (i) any case-to case match that may assist in the investigation of a criminal case and (ii) any verified match that identifies a suspect or offender. Provides that the sexual assault evidence tracking system must allow the investigating law enforcement agency to prohibit access to information regarding DNA matches and follow-up investigations to the victim if the law enforcement agency would determine that doing so would interfere with the investigation or prosecution of the crime.
LRB103 39011 RLC 69148 b
A BILL FOR
HB4856 LRB103 39011 RLC 69148 b
AN ACT concerning criminal law.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Sexual Assault Evidence Submission Act is
amended by changing Sections 15 and 50 as follows:
(725 ILCS 202/15)
Sec. 15. Analysis of evidence; notification.
(a) All sexual assault evidence submitted pursuant to
Section 10 of this Act on or after the effective date of this
Act shall be analyzed within 6 months after receipt of all
necessary evidence and standards by the Illinois State Police
Laboratory or other designated laboratory if sufficient
staffing and resources are available.
(b) If a consistent DNA profile has been identified by
comparing the submitted sexual assault evidence with a known
standard from a suspect or with DNA profiles in the CODIS
database, the Illinois State Police shall notify the
investigating law enforcement agency of the results in writing
within 7 days after notification, and the Illinois State
Police shall provide an automatic courtesy copy of the written
notification to the appropriate State's Attorney's Office for
tracking and further action, as necessary. Within 5 days after
receiving notification under this subsection, the

HB4856 - 2 - LRB103 39011 RLC 69148 b
investigating law enforcement agency must:
(1) send acknowledgment to the Illinois State Police
or designated laboratory that the law enforcement agency
has received the notification; and
(2) provide any additional information concerning the
match to the Illinois State Police or the designated
laboratory as requested by the Illinois State Police or
designated laboratory.
(c) The Illinois State Police or designated laboratory
shall also provide to the investigating law enforcement
agency, within 30 days after a consistent DNA profile has been
identified under subsection (b), of (i) any case-to case match
that may assist in the investigation of a criminal case and
(ii) any verified match that identifies a suspect or offender.
(Source: P.A. 102-538, eff. 8-20-21.)
(725 ILCS 202/50)
Sec. 50. Sexual assault evidence tracking system.
(a) On June 26, 2018, the Sexual Assault Evidence Tracking
and Reporting Commission issued its report as required under
Section 43. It is the intention of the General Assembly in
enacting the provisions of this amendatory Act of the 101st
General Assembly to implement the recommendations of the
Sexual Assault Evidence Tracking and Reporting Commission set
forth in that report in a manner that utilizes the current
resources of law enforcement agencies whenever possible and

HB4856 - 3 - LRB103 39011 RLC 69148 b
that is adaptable to changing technologies and circumstances.
(a-1) Due to the complex nature of a statewide tracking
system for sexual assault evidence and to ensure all
stakeholders, including, but not limited to, victims and their
designees, health care facilities, law enforcement agencies,
forensic labs, and State's Attorneys offices are integrated,
the Commission recommended the purchase of an electronic
off-the-shelf tracking system. The system must be able to
communicate with all stakeholders and provide real-time
information to a victim or his or her designee on the status of
the evidence that was collected. The sexual assault evidence
tracking system must:
(1) be electronic and web-based;
(2) be administered by the Illinois State Police;
(3) have help desk availability at all times;
(4) ensure the law enforcement agency contact
information is accessible to the victim or his or her
designee through the tracking system, so there is contact
information for questions;
(5) have the option for external connectivity to
evidence management systems, laboratory information
management systems, or other electronic data systems
already in existence by any of the stakeholders to
minimize additional burdens or tasks on stakeholders;
(6) allow for the victim to opt in for automatic
notifications when status updates are entered in the

HB4856 - 4 - LRB103 39011 RLC 69148 b
system, if the system allows;
(7) include at each step in the process, a brief
explanation of the general purpose of that step and a
general indication of how long the step may take to
complete;
(8) contain minimum fields for tracking and reporting,
as follows:
(A) for sexual assault evidence kit vendor fields:
(i) each sexual evidence kit identification
number provided to each health care facility; and
(ii) the date the sexual evidence kit was sent
to the health care facility.
(B) for health care facility fields:
(i) the date sexual assault evidence was
collected; and
(ii) the date notification was made to the law
enforcement agency that the sexual assault
evidence was collected.
(C) for law enforcement agency fields:
(i) the date the law enforcement agency took
possession of the sexual assault evidence from the
health care facility, another law enforcement
agency, or victim if he or she did not go through a
health care facility;
(ii) the law enforcement agency complaint
number;

HB4856 - 5 - LRB103 39011 RLC 69148 b
(iii) if the law enforcement agency that takes
possession of the sexual assault evidence from a
health care facility is not the law enforcement
agency with jurisdiction in which the offense
occurred, the date when the law enforcement agency
notified the law enforcement agency having
jurisdiction that the agency has sexual assault
evidence required under subsection (c) of Section
20 of the Sexual Assault Incident Procedure Act;
(iv) an indication if the victim consented for
analysis of the sexual assault evidence;
(v) if the victim did not consent for analysis
of the sexual assault evidence, the date on which
the law enforcement agency is no longer required
to store the sexual assault evidence;
(vi) a mechanism for the law enforcement
agency to document why the sexual assault evidence
was not submitted to the laboratory for analysis,
if applicable;
(vii) the date the law enforcement agency
received the sexual assault evidence results back
from the laboratory;
(viii) the date statutory notifications were
made to the victim or documentation of why
notification was not made; and
(ix) the date the law enforcement agency

HB4856 - 6 - LRB103 39011 RLC 69148 b
turned over the case information to the State's
Attorney office, if applicable.
(D) for forensic lab fields:
(i) the date the sexual assault evidence is
received from the law enforcement agency by the
forensic lab for analysis;
(ii) the laboratory case number, visible to
the law enforcement agency and State's Attorney
office; and
(iii) the date the laboratory completes the
analysis of the sexual assault evidence.
(E) for State's Attorney office fields:
(i) the date the State's Attorney office
received the sexual assault evidence results from
the laboratory, if applicable; and
(ii) the disposition or status of the case.
(a-2) The Commission also developed guidelines for secure
electronic access to a tracking system for a victim, or his or
her designee to access information on the status of the
evidence collected. The Commission recommended minimum
guidelines in order to safeguard confidentiality of the
information contained within this statewide tracking system.
These recommendations are that the sexual assault evidence
tracking system must:
(1) allow for secure access, controlled by an
administering body who can restrict user access and allow

HB4856 - 7 - LRB103 39011 RLC 69148 b
different permissions based on the need of that particular
user and health care facility users may include
out-of-state border hospitals, if authorized by the
Illinois State Police to obtain this State's kits from
vendor;
(2) provide for users, other than victims, the ability
to provide for any individual who is granted access to the
program their own unique user ID and password;
(3) provide for a mechanism for a victim to enter the
system and only access his or her own information, which
must include the information transferred under Section 15,
except if prohibited by the investigating law enforcement
agency under this subsection. The sexual assault evidence
tracking system must allow the investigating law
enforcement agency to prohibit access to information
regarding DNA matches and follow-up investigations to the
victim if the law enforcement agency would determine that
doing so would interfere with the investigation or
prosecution of the crime;
(4) enable a sexual assault evidence to be tracked and
identified through the unique sexual assault evidence kit
identification number or barcode that the vendor applies
to each sexual assault evidence kit per the Illinois State
Police's contract;
(5) have a mechanism to inventory unused kits provided
to a health care facility from the vendor;

HB4856 - 8 - LRB103 39011 RLC 69148 b
(6) provide users the option to either scan the bar
code or manually enter the sexual assault evidence kit
number into the tracking program;
(7) provide a mechanism to create a separate unique
identification number for cases in which a sexual evidence
kit was not collected, but other evidence was collected;
(8) provide the ability to record date, time, and user
ID whenever any user accesses the system;
(9) provide for real-time entry and update of data;
(10) contain report functions including:
(A) health care facility compliance with
applicable laws;
(B) law enforcement agency compliance with
applicable laws;
(C) law enforcement agency annual inventory of
cases to each State's Attorney office; and
(D) forensic lab compliance with applicable laws;
and
(11) provide automatic notifications to the law
enforcement agency when:
(A) a health care facility has collected sexual
assault evidence;
(B) unreleased sexual assault evidence that is
being stored by the law enforcement agency has met the
minimum storage requirement by law; and
(C) timelines as required by law are not met for a

HB4856 - 9 - LRB103 39011 RLC 69148 b
particular case, if not otherwise documented.
(b) The Illinois State Police may develop rules to
implement a sexual assault evidence tracking system that
conforms with subsections (a-1) and (a-2) of this Section. The
Illinois State Police shall design the criteria for the sexual
assault evidence tracking system so that, to the extent
reasonably possible, the system can use existing technologies
and products, including, but not limited to, currently
available tracking systems. The sexual assault evidence
tracking system shall be operational and shall begin tracking
and reporting sexual assault evidence no later than one year
after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 101st
General Assembly. The Illinois State Police may adopt
additional rules as it deems necessary to ensure that the
sexual assault evidence tracking system continues to be a
useful tool for law enforcement.
(c) A treatment hospital, a treatment hospital with
approved pediatric transfer, an out-of-state hospital approved
by the Department of Public Health to receive transfers of
Illinois sexual assault survivors, or an approved pediatric
health care facility defined in Section 1a of the Sexual
Assault Survivors Emergency Treatment Act shall participate in
the sexual assault evidence tracking system created under this
Section and in accordance with rules adopted under subsection
(b), including, but not limited to, the collection of sexual
assault evidence and providing information regarding that

HB4856 - 10 - LRB103 39011 RLC 69148 b