This NJ legislation would create a state registry for rape kits: What you need to know

A bill that would create a rape kit tracking system in New Jersey passed the state Senate unanimously Monday afternoon.

The bill, sponsored by state Sens. Renee Burgess and Paul Moriarty, would require the state attorney general to establish a sexual assault forensic evidence (SAFE) kit, or rape kit tracking system.

Burgess said after the vote that the bill “strengthens the current system to bring justice to those who have waited so long because of the old system” and that it “cannot do anything but help the victims.”

The system will create an online database that allows a person, including the victim, law enforcement officer, healthcare facility or laboratory employee, and any other person deemed appropriate by the attorney general, to track a sexual assault forensic evidence kit. chain of custody from collection to transfer to a local law enforcement agency, delivery to the laboratory, and final disposal.

According to the most recent 2022 state data available, there were 1,536 reported rapes and 251 arrests.

Other legislation regarding rape kits also goes into effect in Trenton

The additional bill in the Parliament is still in the committee.

This isn’t the only legislation addressing rape kits this session. A bill sponsored by State Sens. Joseph Cryan and Troy Singleton would address the backlog of kits for testing.

That bill, which cleared the state Senate Law and Public Safety Committee and is now awaiting consideration in the state Senate Budget Committee, calls for all test kits to be sent for examination with the victim’s consent. It also backdates kits to be sent for testing by April 1, 2025, to eliminate a backlog of kits collected from July 1, 2019, and other kits to be sent after the Division of Criminal Justice.

This would require testing facilities to notify law enforcement of each set of sexual assault forensic evidence collected from the victim within 24 hours if the victim consents, and for law enforcement to receive the set within three business days.

The kits of victims who did not report the crime or did not consent to the disclosure of evidence will be kept for 20 years, or for minors, 20 years after the victim turns 18.

This comes after Attorney General Matt Platkin issued a new order in August requiring testing of all kits provided to law enforcement.

“We have raised our own standards to take a survivor-centered approach to justice, and victims will benefit,” Platkin said in a statement at the time. “This critical update, along with the proposed rule change that would ensure that evidence that a defendant has previously committed domestic violence, child abuse, or sexual assault is admissible at trial, will increase the likelihood of successful prosecution of serial offenders and reduce the serious public safety threat. “They offer.”

Katie Sobko guards the New Jersey Statehouse. Email: [email protected]

This article was first published on NorthJersey.com: NJ rape kit registration legislation