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New law requires sexual assault collection kits to be electronically trackable

Senate Bill 967

A graphic in support of Senate Bill 967, which was signed into law April 18, 2019. The law will require all sexual assault collection kits to be electronically trackable.

 Photo via Oklahoma Call for Reproductive Justice Facebook

Oklahoma has a new law requiring all sexual assault collection kits to be electronically trackable and untested kits to be handled according to the appropriate procedures.

SB 967, which Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed April 18, requires medical providers, law enforcement agencies, labs and other entities to make sexual assault collection kits trackable online by 2020. This also applies to previously untested kits, which the bill states must be handled “with the established protocols, rules and guidelines relating to all untested kits.”

The kits are still confidential, and all related records may only be accessed by survivors and employees who are updating the information, according to the legislation.

The bill was authored by Oklahoma senators Kay Floyd, Nathan Dahm and Stephanie Bice, along with representatives Jon Echols, Mark Lawson and Jadine Nollan. It was introduced Feb. 4.

“I'm grateful that my colleagues in the House have moved swiftly on this important legislation to ensure that sexual assault survivors get the justice they deserve,” Floyd said in an April 16 Facebook post.

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