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2012 SESSION

12102960D
HOUSE BILL NO. 969
Offered January 11, 2012
Prefiled January 11, 2012
A BILL to amend and reenact § 15.2-1627.4 of the Code of Virginia, relating to sexual assault response teams; addition of campus police chiefs.
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Patron-- Bell, Robert B.
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Referred to Committee on Militia, Police and Public Safety
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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1.  That § 15.2-1627.4 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 15.2-1627.4. Coordination of multidisciplinary response to sexual assault.

The attorney for the Commonwealth in each political subdivision in the Commonwealth shall coordinate the establishment of a multidisciplinary response to criminal sexual assault as set forth in Article 7 (§ 18.2-61 et seq.) of Chapter 4 of Title 18.2, and hold a meeting, at least annually, to: (i) discuss implementation of protocols and policies for sexual assault response teams consistent with those established by the Department of Criminal Justice Services pursuant to subdivision 45 of § 9.1-102; and (ii) establish and review guidelines for the community's response, including the collection, preservation, and secure storage of evidence from Physical Evidence Recovery Kit examinations consistent with § 19.2-165.1. The following persons or their designees shall be invited to participate in the annual meeting: the attorney for the Commonwealth; the sheriff; the director of the local sexual assault crisis center providing services in the jurisdiction, if any; the chief of each police department and the chief of each campus police department of any institution of higher education in the jurisdiction, if any; a forensic nurse examiner or other health care provider who performs Physical Evidence Recovery Kit examinations in the jurisdiction, if any; and the director of the victim/witness program in the jurisdiction, if any.