Bill
HB 884
Creates a statewide, 24/7 SANE system with mobile TeleSANE teams, centralized oversight, and survivor-centered access to forensic exams and records.
HB 884 (Louisiana, 2026) — Summary
Purpose and overall goal
- Establishes a comprehensive, statewide framework to improve access to forensic medical examinations (SANE services) for survivors of sexually oriented criminal offenses.
- Creates a statewide SANE coordinator within the Department of Justice and a regional mobile SANE program under the Department of Health, aiming to ensure 24/7, survivor-centered forensic care across the state.
- Reorganizes and expands reporting, oversight, and coordination related to sexual assault response and SANE services.
Key provisions and changes
1) Louisiana Sexual Assault Oversight Commission and subcommittee
- Adds the statewide SANE coordinator (or designee) as a member of the Louisiana Sexual Assault Oversight Commission.
- Creates the Sexual Assault Response Standards Subcommittee, a subcommittee of the Commission.
- Duties include reviewing SANE training protocols, establishing a statewide registry of SANE-trained providers, and developing statewide sexual assault response protocols.
- 12-member composition, including the statewide SANE coordinator, a practicing SANE nurse, nursing board representative, and various officials from health, hospitals, law enforcement, prosecution, coroner systems, and advocacy groups.
- Subcommittee chair is the statewide SANE coordinator; meetings at least quarterly; quorum rules and staff support described.
2) Data reporting and oversight (data from sexually oriented offenses)
- Amends R.S. 15:624 to require:
- By Feb 15 each year, criminal justice agencies (including campus police) report prior-year data on sexually oriented offenses to the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Criminal Justice and the statewide SANE coordinator.
- By Feb 15 each year, crime laboratories report backlog of sexual assault kits.
- By Feb 15 each year, LDH regional medical directors submit regional sexual assault response plans with identified access gaps.
- By Feb 15 each year, LCLE submits prior-year grants and expenditures for SANE services by region to the statewide SANE coordinator.
- By March 1 each year, compile and transmit A/B data and identify agencies that failed to report.
3) Creation of Services For Survivors of Sexually Oriented Criminal Offenses Access Act (Part XI, Title 40)
- Establishes a new statutory framework titled “Services For Survivors of Sexually Oriented Criminal Offenses Access Act.”
- Key concepts and definitions:
- Defines SANE, regional SANE teams, forensic medical examinations, sexual assault collection kits, and unreported kits.
- Clarifies that a survivor’s access to a SANE examination is a central objective, with emphasis on trauma-informed, survivor-centered care.
4) Statewide SANE coordinator and mobile SANE program (LDJ and LDH roles)
- Creates the statewide SANE coordinator position within the Department of Justice (with required SANE credentials and experience).
- Duties include:
- Developing and overseeing a statewide strategic plan for SANE services.
- Creating mobile SANE teams across LDH regions.
- Standardizing protocols and procedures for forensic examinations.
- Serving on the Oversight Commission and the Standards Subcommittee.
- Establishing training requirements, a statewide preceptor network, incident reporting, and system oversight.
- Maintaining a statewide database on service utilization and gaps; conducting a statewide access assessment with a 2-year plan to ensure 24/7 coverage in every parish.
- Coordinating with hospitals, law enforcement, advocacy groups, and other stakeholders; seeking funding and grants; and handling related duties.
5) TeleSANE and mobile services
- Establishes a statewide TeleSANE training program and a mobile SANE program to deliver forensic exams statewide.
- Mobile SANE teams must be on-call, respond within an hour for acute cases when possible, and work with hospitals, law enforcement, and advocates to provide trauma-informed care.
- Kits used must meet department standards.
6) Hospital, provider procedures and patient rights
- Hospitals/providers must coordinate with regional SANE programs for forensic exams; survivors may choose whether to report, with certain mandatory reporting exceptions for minors or incapacitated individuals.
- Immunity for hospital staff who notify law enforcement in good faith.
- Exam environment must respect privacy and advocate presence; advocates’ communications are privileged.
7) Billing and costs
- Prohibits billing survivors directly for forensic medical examinations and related services, with limited exceptions (e.g., non-specific services or certain reparations claims under existing law).
- Requires the statewide SANE coordinator to provide a patient-facing pamphlet explaining the billing process; hospitals must give copies to survivors.
8) Documentation and records
- Survivors may obtain a copy of forensic examination documentation within 14 days of request, at no cost, with privacy protections intact; release is at survivor direction and not a public record.
9) Interagency coordination and MOUs
- Requires formal cooperation and memoranda of understanding between the SANE program and other state agencies and organizations to facilitate mobile SANE services.
Effective date
- Effective upon the governor’s signature or lapse of time for gubernatorial action.
Impact and who is affected
- Survivors of sexually oriented offenses: broader, 24/7 access to SANE exams; rights to advocate presence; no direct billing for exams; access to copies of records.
- Healthcare facilities, hospitals, law enforcement, coroner systems, and advocacy organizations: expanded coordination requirements, reporting duties, and involvement in a statewide SANE ecosystem.
- SANE nurses and providers: new credentialing, training requirements, and a statewide registry.
- State agencies (Justice, Health, Police, Hospitals, District Attorneys, etc.): new oversight, reporting, and funding coordination responsibilities.
Notes
- Repeals Part III-A of Subchapter D of Chapter 5-D of Title 40 (R.S. 40:1216.1), which previously governed procedures for survivors.
- Amends several public-records and privacy-related provisions to accommodate new documentation practices.
Overall, HB 884 aims to standardize and expand access to high-quality forensic medical examinations for sexual assault survivors, build a statewide SANE infrastructure, and improve interagency coordination and accountability.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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