Oklahoma § 74-150.28 - Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) laboratory - Acquisition or

§ 74-150.28. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) laboratory - Acquisition or

transmittal of specimens and information - Procedures.

The Director of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation shall

establish the procedures, methods and forms necessary for the

acquisition or transmittal of specimens and information between the

Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and participating law

enforcement and criminal justice agencies.

Added by Laws 1991, c. 227, § 4, emerg. eff. May 23, 1991.

§74-150.28a. Statewide electronic tracking system for sexual

assault evidence collection kits.

A. The Criminalistics Services Division of the Oklahoma State

Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) shall develop and implement a

statewide electronic tracking system for evidence collection kits

used to collect and preserve evidence of a sexual assault or other

sex offense. All sexual assault evidence collection kits, purchased

and/or distributed by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation to

collection sites on or after October 1, 2019, shall be trackable and

shall comply with the requirements of the electronic tracking

system.

B. The Division Director of the OSBI Crime Laboratory shall

implement protocols and administer the tracking system. The

Division Director shall implement protocols and the Bureau shall

promulgate rules and guidelines to ensure that previously untested

sexual assault evidence collection kits are trackable and are

entered into the tracking system. Any law enforcement agency,

medical provider or forensic laboratory that has in its custody a

previously untested sexual assault evidence collection kit used for

a forensic medical examination shall comply with the established

protocols, rules and guidelines relating to all untested kits.

C. For purposes of this section, "previously untested sexual

assault evidence collection kit" means any kit that has not

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 74. State Government

undergone forensic testing and was identified and included in the

2017-2018 statewide inventories of kits in law enforcement custody

pursuant to the Governor's Executive Order 2017-11. To the extent

practicable, and consistent with protecting victim confidentiality

for unreported sexual assaults, a law enforcement agency having

custody of a kit governed by this subsection shall take reasonable

measures to provide appropriate tracking information to the affected

victim.

D. The tracking system shall:

1. Track the location and status of each evidence collection

kit through the criminal justice process, including the initial

collection of evidence for the kit in a forensic medical examination

performed at a health care facility, receipt and storage of the kit

at a law enforcement agency, receipt and analysis of the kit at an

accredited crime laboratory, and storage and destruction of the kit

after the applicable evidence is analyzed;

2. Allow a health care facility performing a forensic medical

examination of a survivor, law enforcement agency, accredited crime

laboratory, prosecutor or other entity providing a chain of custody

for an evidence collection kit to update and track the status and

location of the kits; and

3. Allow a survivor to anonymously track or receive updates

regarding the statute and location of the survivor's evidence

collection kit.

E. The Bureau shall require participation in the tracking

system by all medical providers, law enforcement agencies, forensic

laboratories or other persons or entities having custody or use of

any sexual assault evidence collection kit in the State of Oklahoma.

These entities shall participate in the tracking system and comply

with the established protocols, rules and guidelines. A

participating entity shall be permitted to access the entity's

tracking information through the System.

F. Records entered into the tracking system are confidential.

Records relating to an evidence collection kit may be accessed only

by:

1. The survivor for whom the evidence collection kit was

completed; or

2. An employee of an entity described by subsection C for

purposes of updating or tracking the status or location of the

evidence collection kit.

G. No later than January 1, 2020, the Oklahoma State Bureau of

Investigation shall require all entities described in this section

to participate in the statewide tracking system established by this

section.

Added by Laws 2019, c. 92, § 1, eff. July 1, 2019.

§74-150.28b.

Standardized sexual assault evidence kit.

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 74. State Government

A. All accredited crime laboratories in the State of Oklahoma

must supply to all law enforcement agencies the same standardized

sexual assault evidence kit for the collection of DNA or other

evidence as a result of an alleged crime of sexual assault.

B. A sexual assault evidence kit, or other DNA evidence if a

kit is not collected, must be submitted to the appropriate

accredited crime laboratory for forensic testing within twenty (20)

days after receipt of the evidence by a law enforcement agency if a

report of the sexual assault is made to the law enforcement agency,

unless the victim requests that the sexual assault evidence kit not

be tested.

C. If, at the time the forensic medical examination is

conducted, a report of the sexual assault is not made or if the

victim requests that the sexual assault evidence kit not be tested,

the medical provider shall inform the victim in writing of his or

her right to request the testing of the sexual assault evidence kit

at any future time. The law enforcement agency shall submit the

sexual assault evidence kit to the appropriate accredited crime

laboratory for forensic testing within twenty (20) days of such

request. However, nothing in this subsection shall negate the

responsibility of a medical provider to report a suspected sexual

assault as provided for in Section 40.3A of Title 22 of the Oklahoma

Statutes.

D. A collected sexual assault evidence kit, whether tested or

untested, must be retained in a secure, environmentally safe manner

for not less than fifty (50) years or for the length of the statute

of limitations for the alleged crime, whichever is longer.

E. Each law enforcement agency is responsible for the

maintenance and storage of untested kits either in their own

evidence storage or through an agreement with another agency with

larger capacity.

F. By January 1, 2020, the Oklahoma State Bureau of

Investigation (OSBI) and each accredited crime laboratory, in

coordination with Oklahoma Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence Task

Force, shall adopt and disseminate guidelines and procedures for the

collection, submission and testing of DNA evidence that is obtained

in connection with an alleged sexual assault. Priority testing

shall be given for sexual assault evidence kits that will yield

evidentiary value to the investigation and prosecution of the

alleged sexual assault.

G. OSBI may inquire as to the condition and location of a

sexual assault evidence kit that has not been submitted to a

forensic laboratory within the deadlines established in subsection B

of this section.

Added by Laws 2019, c. 382, § 1, emerg. eff. May 14, 2019. Amended

by Laws 2023, c. 130, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2023.

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 74. State Government

§74-150.28c. Priority protocol for testing untested sexual assault

evidence kits.

A. In addition to guidelines and procedures for the collection,

submission and testing of DNA evidence that is obtained in

connection with an alleged sexual assault, the Oklahoma State Bureau

of Investigation (OSBI) and each accredited crime laboratory within

the State of Oklahoma in partnership with the Oklahoma Sexual

Assault Forensic Evidence Task Force shall implement a priority

protocol for the testing of untested sexual assault evidence kits,

which shall include, but not be limited to:

1. A process to identify the kits that were never examined and

those that were partially examined for probability of obtaining

Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) eligible DNA profiles;

2. Whether the statute of limitations has passed for the

alleged crime;

3. Whether the offender is a stranger or non-stranger to the

victim; and

4. A process to identify those kits where the victim was or is

participating in the criminal justice process and has consented to

the testing of the kit.

B. Untested kits that have been identified as part of the

current backlog of untested or kits not submitted shall not be

tested where:

1. The victim has not reported to law enforcement;

2. The victim has requested that the kit not be tested; or

3. The offender has been convicted for the crime and his or her

profile is in the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS).

C. OSBI may initiate an investigation on any previously

untested or partially tested sexual assault evidence kit once

testing has been completed.

Added by Laws 2019, c. 382, § 2, emerg. eff. May 14, 2019. Amended

by Laws 2023, c. 130, § 2, eff. Nov. 1, 2023.