{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-21-21-143","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 21, § 21-143","heading":"Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence (SAFE) Board — Powers and","body":"duties.\n\nA. There is hereby created the Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence\n\n(SAFE) Board within the Office of the Attorney General. The Board\n\nshall have the power and duty to:\n\n1. Examine the process for gathering and analyzing sexual\n\nassault forensic evidence kits in this state and work with members\n\nof the Legislature to draft proposed legislation to improve the\n\nresponse of medical and law enforcement systems to sexual assault;\n\n2. Develop a plan for the prioritization and acceptance of\n\nuntested sexual assault forensic evidence kits identified in the\n\nstatewide audit conducted by the Board;\n\n3. Identify possible procedures for the testing of anonymous\n\nsexual assault evidence kits;\n\n4. Identify possible improvements for victim access to evidence\n\nother than sexual assault forensic evidence kits including, but not\n\nlimited to, police reports and other physical evidence;\n\n5. Identify additional rights of victims concerning the sexual\n\nassault forensic evidence kits testing process;\n\n6. Identify and pursue grants and other funding sources to\n\naddress untested sexual assault forensic evidence kits, reduce\n\ntesting wait times, provide victim notification, and improve\n\nefficiencies in the kit testing process; and\n\n7. Develop a comprehensive training plan for equipping and\n\nenhancing the work of law enforcement, prosecutors, victim\n\nadvocates, Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners, and multidisciplinary\n\nSexual Assault Response Teams (SARTs) across all jurisdictions\n\nwithin this state.\n\nB. In carrying out its duties and responsibilities, the Board\n\nshall:\n\n1. Promulgate rules establishing criteria for the collection of\n\nsexual assault forensic evidence subject to specific, in-depth\n\nreview by the Board;\n\n2. Establish and maintain statistical information related to\n\nsexual assault forensic evidence collection including, but not\n\nlimited to, demographic and medical diagnostic information;\n\n3. Establish procedures for obtaining initial information\n\nregarding the collection of sexual assault forensic evidence from\n\nmedical and law enforcement entities;\n\n4. Review the policies, practices, and procedures of the\n\nmedical and law enforcement systems and make specific\n\nrecommendations to the entities comprising the medical and law\n\nenforcement systems for actions necessary to improve such systems;\n\n5. Review the extent to which the medical and law enforcement\n\nsystems are coordinated and evaluate whether the state is\n\nefficiently discharging its sexual assault forensic evidence\n\ncollection responsibilities;\n\n6. Request and obtain a copy of all records and reports\n\npertaining to sexual assault forensic evidence including, but not\n\nlimited to:\n\na. hospital records,\n\nb. court records,\n\nc. local, state, and federal law enforcement records,\n\nd. medical and dental records, and\n\ne. emergency medical service records.\n\nConfidential information provided to the Board shall be\n\nmaintained by the Board in a confidential manner as otherwise\n\nrequired by state and federal law. Any person damaged by disclosure\n\nof such confidential information by the Board or its members which\n\nis not authorized by law may maintain an action for damages, costs,\n\nand attorney fees pursuant to The Governmental Tort Claims Act;\n\n7. Maintain all confidential information, documents, and\n\nrecords in possession of the Board as confidential and not subject\n\nto subpoena or discovery in any civil or criminal proceedings;\n\nprovided, however, such information, documents, and records\n\notherwise available from other sources shall not be exempt from\n\nsubpoena or discovery through such sources solely because such\n\ninformation, documents, and records were presented to or reviewed by\n\nthe Board; and\n\n8. Exercise all incidental powers necessary and proper for the\n\nimplementation and administration of the Sexual Assault Forensic\n\nEvidence (SAFE) Board.\n\nC. The review and discussion of individual cases of sexual\nher sources shall not be exempt from\n\nsubpoena or discovery through such sources solely because such\n\ninformation, documents, and records were presented to or reviewed by\n\nthe Board; and\n\n8. Exercise all incidental powers necessary and proper for the\n\nimplementation and administration of the Sexual Assault Forensic\n\nEvidence (SAFE) Board.\n\nC. The review and discussion of individual cases of sexual\n\nassault evidence collection shall be conducted in executive session.\n\nAll discussions of individual cases and any writings produced by or\n\ncreated for the Board in the course of determining a remedial\n\nmeasure to be recommended by the Board, as the result of a review of\n\nan individual case of sexual assault evidence collection, shall be\n\nprivileged and shall not be admissible in evidence in any\n\nproceeding. All other business shall be conducted in accordance\n\nwith the provisions of the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act. The Board\n\nshall periodically conduct meetings to discuss organization and\n\nbusiness matters and any actions or recommendations aimed at\n\nimprovement of the collection of sexual assault forensic evidence\n\nwhich shall be subject to the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act.\n\nD. The Board shall submit an annual statistical report on the\n\nincidence of sexual assault forensic evidence collection in this\n\nstate for which the Board has completed its review during the past\n\ncalendar year including its recommendations, if any, to medical and\n\nlaw enforcement systems. The Board shall also prepare and make\n\navailable to the public an annual report containing a summary of the\n\nactivities of the Board relating to the review of sexual assault\n\nforensic evidence collection and an evaluation of whether the state\n\nis efficiently discharging its sexual assault forensic evidence\n\ncollection responsibilities. The report shall be completed no later\n\nthan February 1 of the subsequent year.","path":["OK Code","Title 21"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os21.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"0ede8fa4750dc7976e4141accc8f1c6ebedb1b68b1efc930e5c8d30a7933f4ad","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-21-21-142c-6","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-21-21-143.1"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}