Virginia Code 19.2-11.6: (Effective until July 1, 2025) Anonymous physical evidence recovery kits
A. When a victim of sexual assault who undergoes a forensic medical examination elects not to report the offense to law enforcement, the health care provider shall inform the victim that the physical evidence recovery kit shall be forwarded to the Division for storage as an anonymous physical evidence recovery kit. The health care provider shall further inform the victim of the length of time the anonymous physical evidence recovery kit will be stored by the Division, the victim’s right to object to the destruction of the anonymous physical evidence recovery kit, and how the victim can have the anonymous physical evidence recovery kit released to a law-enforcement agency at a later date. The health care provider shall forward the anonymous physical evidence recovery kit to the Division in accordance with the policies and procedures established by the Division.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 19.2-11.6
- Anonymous physical evidence recovery kit: means a physical evidence recovery kit that is collected from a victim of sexual assault through a forensic medical examination where the victim elects, at the time of the examination, not to report the sexual assault offense to a law-enforcement agency. See Virginia Code 19.2-11.5
- Division: means the Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services of the Virginia Department of General Services. See Virginia Code 19.2-11.5
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Health care provider: means any hospital, clinic, or other medical facility that provides forensic medical examinations to victims of sexual assault. See Virginia Code 19.2-11.5
- Law-enforcement agency: means the state or local law-enforcement agency with the primary responsibility for investigating an alleged sexual assault offense case and includes the employees of that agency. See Virginia Code 19.2-11.5
- Physical evidence recovery kit: means any evidence collection kit supplied by the Department to health care providers for use in collecting evidence from victims of sexual assault during forensic medical examinations or to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for use during death investigations to collect evidence from decedents who may be victims of sexual assault. See Virginia Code 19.2-11.5
- Victim of sexual assault: means any person who undergoes a forensic medical examination for the collection of a physical evidence recovery kit connected to a sexual assault offense. See Virginia Code 19.2-11.5
B. The Division shall store any anonymous physical evidence recovery kit received for a minimum of two years. The Division shall store the anonymous physical evidence recovery kit for an additional period of 10 years following the receipt of a written objection to the destruction of the anonymous physical evidence recovery kit from the victim. After the initial two years or any additional 10-year storage period, the Division, in the absence of the receipt of a written objection from the victim in the most recent 10-year period, may destroy the anonymous physical evidence recovery kit or, in its discretion or upon request of the victim or the law-enforcement agency, may elect to retain the anonymous physical evidence recovery kit for a longer period of time. Upon notification from either the law-enforcement agency or the attorney for the Commonwealth that the victim has elected to report the offense to the law-enforcement agency, the Division shall release the anonymous physical evidence recovery kit to the law-enforcement agency.