Rhode Island

• Is the inventory recurring? Yes
• Are law enforcement agencies and/or labs required to participate in the inventory? Yes
• Does the law require to document the date of when each kit was collected? Yes
• Does the law require a reason to be given as to why the kit was not submitted to a crime lab for testing? Yes
• Does the law require untested kits to be counted? Yes

• Does the law require law enforcement to submit all untested kits, including those past the statute of limitation, within a certain deadline? Yes
• Does the law set a deadline for the crime laboratory to complete analysis once a kit has been submitted to the lab? Yes
• Does the law require kits past the statute of limitations to be sent in for testing? Yes
• Does the law allow public crime labs to outsource unsubmitted kits? Yes

Rhode Island law stipulates that medical facilities must notify the appropriate law enforcement agency immediately, and no later than 24 hours after the collection of a new sexual assault evidence kit. State law also says that hospitals and state laboratories shall work together to ensure reported kits are transferred from the hospital to the laboratory within 10 days of the kit being collected. Finally, the state statute says that the public crime laboratory shall test all kits within 30 days of receipt, and have an average completion rate of 90 days to upload DNA into CODIS and local DNA databases. If it cannot meet this deadline the lab is to outsource testing of untested kits to a private lab.

• Does the law state that the tracking system should track initial collection at hospital, inventory and storage by law enforcement, and testing and storage by state labs? n/a
• Does the law state that the tracking system should track if kit a has been destroyed? n/a
• Does the law allow all agencies who participate in the tracking system to update the status of a kit? n/a
• Does the law state that the tracking system should have a victim portal? n/a
• Does the law require law enforcement, labs, and hospitals to participate in the tracking system? n/a
• Does the law state that all previously untested kits should be entered into the system? n/a

• Do victims have the right to receive information of the location, testing date, and testing results of their kit? Yes
• Do victims have the right to be informed when there is any change in the status of their case? Yes
• Do victims have the right to receive notification before destruction of their kit? Yes
• Are victims granted further preservation of the kit or its probative contents? Yes
• Are victims provided with the contact information for the designated liaison(s) at the corresponding law enforcement agency at the time that a kit is collected? Yes
• Do victims have the right to receive a physical document identifying their rights under law? Yes

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