Standing Up for Rape Victims (SURVIVOR) Act of 2019

• Requires all sexual assault examination kits reported to law enforcement in North Carolina to be tested, with specific timelines based on kit collection date and reporting status.

• Kits collected after July 1, 2019 must be submitted to the State Crime Laboratory within 45 days of law enforcement custody; kits collected before January 1, 2018 must be reviewed by multi-disciplinary teams and prioritized for testing within 9 months.

• Exempts certain kits from testing requirements, including unreported kits (sent to Department of Public Safety for storage), unfounded kits after comprehensive review, and kits from cases with conviction where the offender does not seek DNA testing and is already in CODIS.

• Requires law enforcement agencies to electronically notify the State Crime Laboratory within 15 days of any arrest or conviction resulting from a CODIS database match on submitted DNA samples.

• Appropriates $3,000,000 in nonrecurring funds annually for the 2019-2021 biennium and $800,000 in recurring funds for 2019-2020 to hire six forensic scientists to assist with sexual assault examination kit testing.