Mississippi trying to bring archaic rape, sexual assault kit laws 'into this century'
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Apr. 11—JACKSON — The Legislature recently sent two bills to Gov. Tate Reeves' desk that are aimed to help sexual assault victims achieve justice and modernize the state's criminal definition of rape.
House Bill 485, authored by House Judiciary A Chair Angela Cockerham, I-Magnolia, creates a timeline for how medical groups and law enforcement agencies are required to process sexual assault kits.
"I'm very happy with how the bill turned out," Cockerham said. "It will help a lot of sexual assault victims and help prosecute more people."
The legislation states if a medical employee uses a kit to collect evidence from a sexual assault victim, they are required to contact law enforcement within four hours of gathering the evidence. The police are then required to collect the kit within 24 hours of a medical employee contacting them.
Police must either store the kit in a refrigerated space within two hours of receiving it or transport it directly to the Mississippi Forensics Laboratory, commonly called the state crime lab, for processing.
Law enforcement groups must deliver all kits to the state crime lab, which is under the purview of the Department of Public Safety, within seven days after receiving it. Forensic workers at the crime lab must process the kit within 60 days of receiving it from the police.
The new process, which will go into effect Dec. 1 if the governor signs the legislation into law, marks a notable shift in how state and local agencies will handle sexual assault kits and interact with sexual assault victims.
There is currently no system in Mississippi specifying how law enforcement or forensic employees must handle sexual assault evidence, creating a black hole of information about how many kits remain untested.
"We know there's backlogs of these kits, but we have no idea of where they are or who has them or even if they're fit to be processed," said Sandy Middleton, director of the Mississippi Center for Violence Prevention, who advocated for the legislation.
Advocates for the past two years have argued that a lack of a uniform system has led to state officials only prosecuting a small number rape cases during the past three years, despite statistics showing that 463,634 people are sexually assaulted each year in America.
House Bill 995, authored by Rep. Dana McLean, R-Columbus, took out misogynistic language from the state's rape laws and removed the spousal defence for people who commit marital rape.
"I'm delighted and relieved that this passed," McLean said. "This really brings our rape and sexual assault laws into this century. Now, we just need to keep looking at the books to make sure all our laws are updated."
The Lowndes County lawmaker has argued that the spousal defense cause state prosecutors not to pursue rape charges against a defendant and instead try to convict them for sexual assault or sexual battery, crimes that carry lesser penalties.
Reeves' office did not immediately respond to a question about the legislation, but he has until April 20 to either sign the measures into law or veto them. If he takes no action on the measures by April 20, they automatically become law.
If you or someone you know is a survivor of sexual abuse, you can contact the Mississippi Center for Violence Prevention at 601-932-4198 or the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline 1-800-656-4673.
