HB 518: Sexual Assault Reform Act of 2025; enact

Georgia currently allows sexual assault kits to be tracked through a statewide system run by the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, but there is no rule against selling at-home evidence collection kits directly to the public. This bill, called the Sexual Assault Reform Act of 2025, would make it illegal to sell, offer for sale, or provide someone with an over-the-counter sexual assault evidence kit, defined as a kit marketed as do-it-yourself or self-collected and sold outside a proper medical or law enforcement collecting facility. Breaking this rule would be a misdemeanor with a fine up to $1,000. The bill also updates the law on how law enforcement handles sexual assault evidence, requiring kits to be submitted for testing within 30 days unless a victim asks in writing that testing not happen, and updates who receives the GBI's annual testing report. It creates a new 13 member Forensic Medical Examination Advisory Committee, appointed mostly by the Governor, to set training and certification standards for sexual assault nurse examiners (SANE), with initial appointments due by July 1, 2025, and new training-provider approval rules starting October 1, 2025.

• Makes it a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $1,000, to sell, offer for sale, or provide an over-the-counter do-it-yourself sexual assault evidence kit to the public.
• Defines what counts as an 'over-the-counter sexual assault evidence kit' versus kits properly provided to law enforcement, medical personnel, or collecting facilities.
• Requires law enforcement to submit sexual assault evidence to the GBI's Division of Forensic Sciences for testing within 30 days, with testing required unless the victim requests in writing that it not occur.
• Creates the 13-member Forensic Medical Examination Advisory Committee to set training and certification standards for sexual assault nurse examiners (SANE), with initial Governor appointments due by July 1, 2025.
• Requires anyone offering SANE training in Georgia after October 1, 2025 to register with and get approval from the new advisory committee before offering the training.
• Updates the list of legislative committees and officials who receive the GBI's annual report on sexual assault evidence testing.

Sexual assault victims, retailers or individuals who might sell at-home evidence kits, law enforcement agencies handling evidence, the GBI's Division of Forensic Sciences, hospitals and forensic nurses who perform exams, SANE training providers, and the Governor's office and legislative committees that receive related reports.

Banning over-the-counter kits aims to keep evidence collection inside facilities equipped to preserve it for prosecution, since self-collected evidence may not hold up in court. The new training committee and 30-day testing deadline could change how quickly and consistently sexual assault cases are processed across Georgia.

• Section 2 amends O.C.G.A. § 17-5-74 to define 'over-the-counter sexual assault evidence kit' and ban its sale, provision, or offer for sale, with violations punishable by a fine up to $1,000.
• Section 2 also clarifies that kits sold or provided to law enforcement, medical personnel, or collecting facilities are not considered over-the-counter kits.
• Section 3 amends O.C.G.A. § 35-1-2 to require law enforcement to submit evidence for testing within 30 days and requires the division to test it unless the victim objects in writing.
• Section 3 updates the officials who must receive the GBI's annual testing report, replacing the Lieutenant Governor with the President of the Senate and adding the House Committee on Public and Community Health.
• Section 4 creates a new Code Section 35-6A-18 establishing the 13-member Forensic Medical Examination Advisory Committee, detailing its membership categories and appointment terms starting July 1, 2025.
• Section 4 sets training and certification deadlines for forensic nurses, including a January 1, 2026 deadline for nurses who begin practice on or after August 1, 2025 to apply for state certification.
• Section 4 requires SANE training providers to register with and get committee approval starting October 1, 2025 before offering training in Georgia.

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

• Scott Holcomb (D, HD-101)Patrocinador principal

• sexual assault kits
• forensic nursing
• law enforcement evidence handling
• victims rights
• public safety legislation