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LouisianaHB 12472026 Regular SessionHouseWALLET

CRIME/SEX OFFENSES: Creates a statewide Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Coordinator

Sponsored By: Annie Spell (Republican)

Signed by Governor

Judiciary B

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

7 provisions identified: 6 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.

Survivors can report within 20 years

Survivors who decline to report and request no investigation can keep their evidence kit unreported. Unreported kits must carry no survivor identifying information and be kept securely by law enforcement or a qualified coroner-based program for 20 years. Facilities unable to protect evidence and its custody record cannot retain kits; securely storing facilities must transfer them to law enforcement within 72 hours after completion notice. No investigation or lab submission is required unless the survivor chooses to report, and survivors can change kits to reported status anytime during the 20-year period. State Police must maintain statewide kit tracking that identifies reported and unreported kits; rollout can occur in phases.

Around-the-clock mobile exam teams for survivors

Louisiana’s health department must establish statewide remote nurse training and mobile sexual-assault exam programs across public health regions. Mobile nurses or teams must be available on call or by schedule 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For urgent exams, teams must aim to arrive within one hour when geography and travel time allow. Care must account for trauma, and use of service locations depends on agreements with the relevant groups. The department must make appropriate service agreements, while teams coordinate with crime labs, advocates, child-service agencies, nursing officials, and law enforcement.

No direct bills for survivors’ forensic exams

Hospitals, providers, and the statewide nurse coordinator cannot directly bill survivors for covered forensic exam services. Covered items include forensic supplies, scope procedures, assault-related tests, and medicines provided during the exam. Providers must send reimbursement claims directly to the Crime Victims’ Compensation Board. This protection does not cover other medical care or diagnosis and treatment of assault-related injuries. The coordinator must supply a billing pamphlet, and hospitals and providers must give it to survivors seeking treatment.

Survivor care rights with reporting exceptions

Hospitals must request a regional sexual-assault nurse exam, and care or evidence collection cannot depend on a police report. Qualified providers must give timely, private care adapted to survivors’ needs, following the Survivor Bill of Rights with their consent. An advocate must be offered when available and can stay during the exam only with the survivor’s consent. Providers cannot refuse help because survivors live elsewhere or the assault happened elsewhere; violations can put provider licenses at risk. Immediate police notice is required for survivors unable to decide about reporting, and for those under 18 when mandatory reporting requires it. When survivors choose to report, providers must contact the agency responsible for kit transfer; good-faith notifications have civil-liability protection, and staff must notify through dispatch and document required details.

Survivors get free forensic exam records

An adult survivor legally able to make decisions can request free copies of written forensic exam records. The examining provider must supply records it holds within 14 days after the request or record completion, whichever is later. Records are released only at the survivor’s direction. Providing copies does not make the records public or remove the survivor’s privacy protection.

Safer exams and evidence for survivors

Covered facilities and agencies involved in sexual-assault exams or survivor care must report safety and evidence problems to the coordinator. Reports must cover departures from required procedures, compromised evidence, and patient-safety concerns. The coordinator must develop the reporting process, keep reports, and ensure appropriate review, investigation, and follow-up. Every forensic collection kit must meet standards developed by Louisiana’s health department with the statewide response standards group.

Statewide planning for survivors’ exam access

The law creates a statewide sexual-assault nurse coordinator who needs formal examiner training and at least two years of practice. The coordinator oversees service and mobile-team plans, exam protocols, initial and continuing training, and a network of nurse mentors. Within two years after an access assessment, the coordinator must develop a plan for 24-hour exam access in every parish. The coordinator tracks service use, response times, and coverage gaps; convenes regional partners; seeks funding; and reports annually to state leaders. A new 13-member standards group, chaired by the coordinator or designee, meets at least every four months to recommend training, credentialing, provider-registry, and response standards, with Attorney General staff support.

Sponsors & Cosponsors

Sponsor

  • Annie Spell

    Republican • House

Cosponsors

  • Adrian Fisher

    Democratic • House

  • Beth Anne Billings

    Republican • House

  • Roy Daryl Adams

    Democratic • House

  • Delisha Boyd

    Democratic • House

  • Emily Chenevert

    Republican • House

  • Jason Brian DeWitt

    Republican • House

  • Jessica Domangue

    Republican • House

  • Kellee Hennessy Dickerson

    Republican • House

  • Ken Brass

    Democratic • House

  • Kim Carver

    Republican • House

  • Michael Charles Echols

    Republican • House

  • Michael Robert Bayham Jr.

    Republican • House

  • Peter F. Egan Sr.

    Republican • House

  • Phillip DeVillier

    Republican • House

  • R. Dewith Carrier

    Republican • House

  • Rhonda Gaye Butler

    Republican • House

  • Stephanie H. Berault

    Republican • House

  • Tehmi Jahi Chassion

    Democratic • House

  • Vincent E. Cox III

    Republican • House

Roll Call Votes

All Roll Calls

Yes: 256 • No: 0

House vote • 5/29/2026

Read by title, roll called, yeas 98, nays 0, Senate amendments concurred in.

Yes: 98 • No: 0

Senate vote • 5/27/2026

Senate floor amendments read and adopted. Read by title, passed by a vote of 36 yeas and 0 nays, and ordered returned to the House. Motion to reconsider tabled.

Yes: 36 • No: 0

House vote • 5/11/2026

Read third time by title, amended, roll called on final passage, yeas 98, nays 0. Finally passed, title adopted, ordered to the Senate.

Yes: 98 • No: 0

House vote • 5/6/2026

Reported with amendments

Yes: 13 • No: 0

House vote • 4/27/2026

Read by title, substitute title adopted, lies over in the same order of business, substitute for HB No. 884 reported by the Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice

Yes: 11 • No: 0

Actions Timeline

  1. Signed by the Governor. Becomes Act No. 724.

    6/3/2026House

  2. Effective date: 06/03/2026.

    6/3/2026House

  3. Signed by the President of the Senate.

    6/1/2026Senate

  4. Sent to the Governor for executive approval.

    6/1/2026House

  5. Enrolled and signed by the Speaker of the House.

    5/31/2026House

  6. Scheduled for concurrence on 05/29/2026.

    5/29/2026House

  7. Read by title, roll called, yeas 98, nays 0, Senate amendments concurred in.

    5/29/2026House

  8. Received from the Senate with amendments.

    5/28/2026House

  9. Senate floor amendments read and adopted. Read by title, passed by a vote of 36 yeas and 0 nays, and ordered returned to the House. Motion to reconsider tabled.

    5/27/2026Senate

  10. Reported without Legislative Bureau amendments. Read by title and passed to third reading and final passage.

    5/26/2026Senate

  11. Committee amendments read and adopted. Read by title and referred to the Legislative Bureau.

    5/25/2026Senate

  12. Reported with amendments.

    5/21/2026Senate

  13. Read second time by title and referred to the Committee on Judiciary B.

    5/13/2026Senate

  14. Received in the Senate. Read first time by title and placed on the Calendar for a second reading.

    5/12/2026Senate

  15. Read third time by title, amended, roll called on final passage, yeas 98, nays 0. Finally passed, title adopted, ordered to the Senate.

    5/11/2026House

  16. Read by title, amended, ordered reengrossed, passed to 3rd reading.

    5/7/2026House

  17. Scheduled for floor debate on 05/11/2026.

    5/7/2026House

  18. Reported with amendments (13-0).

    5/6/2026House

  19. Read by title, ordered engrossed, recommitted to the Committee on House and Governmental Affairs.

    4/28/2026House

  20. Read by title, substitute title adopted, lies over in the same order of business, substitute for HB No. 884 reported by the Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice (11-0).

    4/27/2026House

Bill Text

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