AB 821

Under current law, if a health care provider performs an examination on a victim of a sex offense to gather evidence, the Department of Justice must award the provider the costs of the examination. The award does not depend upon whether the victim of the sex offense cooperates with law enforcement or whether the sex offense is investigated or prosecuted. Under this bill, DOJ must also award a health care provider the costs of an examination the provider performs on a victim to gather evidence regarding an offense that involves an allegation of domestic abuse or that involves strangulation. The bill also treats the administrative rules to increase the maximum award for such an examination to $3,000.

Under current law, DOJ administers various grant programs, including a program that awards grants to organizations that provide services to victims of sexual assault. This bill requires DOJ to administer a program to award grants to health care facilities that create a new position for a health care provider who conducts, or that create a recruitment, retention, or training program for health care providers who conduct, examinations to gather evidence regarding an offense that involves an allegation of domestic abuse or that involves strangulation.