Bill > LD549

Introduced Session

This bill directs the Department of Public Safety to establish, operate and maintain a sexual assault forensic examination kit tracking system. The system must provide relevant information for victims, both those who choose to report to a law enforcement agency and those who choose not to report, and other approved users regarding the processing, custody, analysis and destruction of evidence. The department is required to submit an annual report beginning January 1, 2027 to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over criminal justice and public safety matters and the Governor concerning information related to the status of sexual assault forensic examination kits reported in the tracking system. The bill provides requirements for the tracking system and requires the department to adopt routine technical rules, including rules regarding participation in the tracking system, confidentiality and the operation of the tracking system. The bill directs that, by June 1, 2026, a law enforcement agency that receives, maintains, stores or preserves sexual assault forensic examination kits must complete an inventory of all kits in its possession and report its findings to the Department of Public Safety. The department must compile all agency reports and present findings of the inventory by January 1, 2027 to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over criminal justice and public safety matters and at the same time post the report on the department’s publicly accessible website. Public Law 2023, chapter 236 changed a provision in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 25 to require law enforcement agencies to store sexual assault forensic examination kits for 20 years. For consistency with that provision, this bill amends a provision in Title 24 to require law enforcement agencies to store sexual assault forensic examination kits for 20 years. The bill allows an alleged victim who has not reported an alleged offense to a law enforcement agency to request that a completed kit be transported to the Maine State Police Crime Laboratory to be processed by signing a consent form, and the results of the analysis must be kept anonymous. The bill requires that, beginning January 1, 2027, and every 5 years thereafter, all completed kits that identify an alleged victim and are being stored by a law enforcement agency must be transported to the Maine State Police Crime Laboratory and be processed on a rolling basis, beginning with kits most recently stored. The bill also requires all forensic examination kits completed on or after January 1, 2027 to be transported to the Maine State Police Crime Laboratory and be processed.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Rick Bennett (I)*,  Dan Ankeles (D),  Amy Arata (R),  Ryan Fecteau (D),  Valli Geiger (D),  Lori Gramlich (D),  Jim Libby (R),  Marianne Moore (R),  Joe Rafferty (D),  Holly Stover (D), 

Died On Adjournment, Apr 29, 2026 (on 04/29/2026)

Bill Topics

Official Document