House Bill 116 Summary

• Changes apply only to sexual assault evidence kits collected on or after the effective date and are not retroactive to previously collected kits.

• Requires law enforcement agencies to submit sexual assault evidence kits to the Idaho state police forensic services laboratory within 30 days of obtaining the kit, with testing completed within 90 days.

• Establishes retention periods for sexual assault evidence kits: 55 years for felony cases, indefinitely for death penalty cases, and 10 years for cases determined to be unfounded or lacking evidence of a crime.

• Requires law enforcement agencies to notify victims (or guardians/relatives) upon written request about kit submission, DNA profile entry, DNA matches, and case status changes.

• Directs Idaho state police forensic services to conduct a one-time audit of untested sexual assault evidence kits within 180 days and submit an annual report to the legislature on kit testing statistics and law enforcement agency compliance.