HBA-EDN H.B. 1234 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1234 By: Naishtat Criminal Jurisprudence 7/18/2001 Enrolled BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Survivors of sexual assault commonly feel traumatized and experience a great deal of shame. As part of the investigation process, the victim must go through an intrusive forensic medical examination that can also be traumatic. House Bill 1234 requires physicians or other medical personnel to offer a sexual assault victim the opportunity to have an advocate or representative present at the time of the examination. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS House Bill 1234 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to require a physician or other medical services personnel, before conducting a forensic medical examination of a person who consents to such an examination for the collection of evidence for an alleged sexual assault, to offer the person the opportunity to have an advocate from a sexual assault program present with the person during the examination. The advocate must have completed a specified training program and is only authorized to provide the injured person with counseling, support services, and information regarding the rights of crime victims. The advocate and the sexual assault program are prohibited from delaying or otherwise impeding the screening or stabilization of an emergency medical condition. The bill requires the sexual assault program to pay all costs associated with providing the advocate. H.B. 1234 provides that any individual or entity, including a health care facility, that provides an advocate with access to a person consenting to an examination is not subject to civil or criminal liability for providing that access. H.B. 1234 requires a penal institution (institution), at the request of a person alleging to have sustained injuries as the victim of a sexual assault while confined in the institution, to provide a representative to be present with the person at any forensic medical examination conducted for the purpose of collecting and preserving evidence related to the investigation or prosecution of the alleged assault. The representative is only authorized to provide the injured person with counseling, support services, and information regarding the rights of crime victims and is prohibited from delaying or otherwise impeding the screening or stabilization of an emergency medical condition. The bill provides that the representative must be approved by the institution and must be a volunteer who has completed a sexual assault training program or a psychologist, sociologist, chaplain, social worker, or case manager. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.