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91_SB0673eng
SB673 Engrossed LRB9105945MWgc
1 AN ACT in relation to sexual assault nurse examiners.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The Illinois Criminal Justice Information Act
5 is amended by adding Section 7.1 as follows:
6 (20 ILCS 3930/7.1 new)
7 Sec. 7.1. Sexual assault nurse examiner pilot program.
8 (a) Legislative findings and intent. The General
9 Assembly finds that the compassionate treatment of sexual
10 assault victims in hospital emergency rooms is necessary to
11 help alleviate the suffering of sexual assault victims. The
12 General Assembly also finds that the effective collection and
13 presentation of forensic evidence in sexual assault cases is
14 necessary to increase the success rate of prosecutions for
15 sex crimes in Illinois.
16 The General Assembly intends to create a pilot program to
17 establish 4 sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE) projects in
18 the State of Illinois. For each project, specially trained
19 sexual assault nurse examiners will provide health
20 assessments and collect forensic evidence from sexual assault
21 victims in the emergency room. The nurses will also testify
22 to victims' injuries during criminal prosecutions.
23 (b) Definitions. In this Section:
24 (1) "Sexual assault nurse examiner" means a
25 registered nurse who has completed a sexual assault nurse
26 examiner (SANE) training program that meets the Forensic
27 Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Education Guidelines
28 established by the International Association of Forensic
29 Nurses.
30 (2) "Hospital" means a facility licensed by the
31 Department of Public Health under the Hospital Licensing
SB673 Engrossed -2- LRB9105945MWgc
1 Act or that meets both the definition of hospital and the
2 exemption provisions of that Act.
3 (3) "Hospital emergency services" means the health
4 care delivered to outpatients within or under the care
5 and supervision of personnel working in a designated
6 emergency department or emergency room of a hospital.
7 (c) SANE pilot program. The Authority shall, subject to
8 appropriation, establish a SANE pilot program to operate 4
9 pilot projects in Illinois. The projects shall be established
10 in the emergency rooms of hospitals in 4 counties
11 geographically distributed throughout the State. Each
12 project must provide the following services:
13 (1) Compassionate health assessment and effective
14 forensic evidence collection for sexual assault victims
15 by a trained sexual assault nurse examiner in a hospital
16 emergency room as part of the provision of hospital
17 emergency services.
18 (2) Presentation of testimony regarding victims'
19 injuries during criminal prosecutions for sex offenses.
20 Hospitals located throughout the State may apply to the
21 Authority to participate in the program.
22 The 4 pilot projects established by the Authority under
23 this Section shall be in existence for a minimum of 3 years.
24 (d) Report. No later than 2 years after the
25 establishment of pilot projects under this Section, the
26 Authority must report to the General Assembly on the efficacy
27 of SANE programs.
28 (e) Rules. The Authority shall adopt rules to implement
29 this Section.
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