HB518: HB518 Sexual Assault Reform Act of 2025; enact

This bill, called the Sexual Assault Reform Act of 2025, changes Georgia law in two main ways. First, it amends the state's sexual assault evidence kit tracking law (O.C.G.A. § 17-5-74) to ban selling or providing 'over-the-counter' sexual assault evidence kits, meaning do-it-yourself or at-home kits marketed for self-collection outside a medical facility. Selling or offering one would be a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $1,000. Kits sold to law enforcement, medical personnel, or a collecting facility are not covered by the ban. Second, the bill updates reporting rules for law enforcement agencies handling sexual assault evidence and creates a new 13-member Forensic Medical Examination Advisory Committee under Title 35. The committee, made up of nurses, medical providers, law enforcement, prosecutors, and a victims' advocate appointed by the Governor, would set training and certification standards for sexual assault nurse examiners (SANE) and approve organizations that offer that training, starting in 2025.

• Bans selling, offering for sale, or providing an over-the-counter sexual assault evidence kit to any individual, with violations punished as a misdemeanor and a fine up to $1,000.
• Defines 'over-the-counter sexual assault evidence kit' as a do-it-yourself or self-collected kit marketed for use outside a medical collecting facility.
• Creates the 13-member Forensic Medical Examination Advisory Committee, appointed largely by the Governor, to set training and certification rules for sexual assault nurse examiners.
• Requires organizations that provide sexual assault nurse examiner training to register with and get approval from the new committee starting October 1, 2025.
• Shortens the deadline for law enforcement officers to submit sexual assault evidence for testing to within 30 days of collection, removing an outdated 2016 evidence-listing requirement.
• Updates who receives the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's annual testing report to include the Lieutenant Governor, President of the Senate, and relevant House and Senate committees.

The bill affects retailers and manufacturers who might sell at-home assault evidence kits, sexual assault victims and advocates, law enforcement agencies handling evidence, forensic nurses and medical providers who perform exams, and the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council and Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which oversee evidence tracking and nurse training standards.

Banning at-home evidence kits addresses concerns that self-collected evidence may not hold up in criminal prosecutions. The new training committee could standardize how forensic nurses are certified statewide, potentially affecting how consistently sexual assault exams are conducted and how quickly evidence moves through the criminal justice system.

• Section 2 revises O.C.G.A. § 17-5-74 to define and ban over-the-counter sexual assault evidence kits, making violations a misdemeanor with a fine up to $1,000.
• Section 3 amends O.C.G.A. § 35-1-2 to require evidence be submitted for testing within 30 days of collection and updates the list of officials who receive the GBI's annual testing report.
• Section 4 creates new Code Section 35-6A-18 establishing the 13-member Forensic Medical Examination Advisory Committee with staggered one- to four-year terms, initial appointments due by July 1, 2025.
• Section 4 requires the committee to set SANE training and certification protocols, with nurses beginning practice on or after August 1, 2025 given until January 1, 2026 to apply for state certification.
• Section 4 requires SANE training providers to register with and receive committee approval starting October 1, 2025 before offering training.
• Section 5 repeals all conflicting laws.

1. 2025-04-04House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)
2. 2025-02-27House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
3. 2025-02-21House Second Readers (House)
4. 2025-02-20House First Readers (House)
5. 2025-02-19House Hopper (House)

• Scott Holcomb (D, HD-101)Primary sponsor

• sexual assault evidence kits
• forensic nursing
• law enforcement evidence handling
• victims' rights
• medical examiner training