[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 149 (Wednesday, August 3, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51213-51214]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-18334]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Office of Justice Programs

[OJP (NIJ) Docket No. 1723]


Notice of Public Comment Period on the DRAFT ``National Best 
Practices for Sexual Assault Kits: A Multidisciplinary Approach''

AGENCY: National Institute of Justice, Justice.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This notice announces the opening of the public comment period 
for the DRAFT ``National Best Practices for Sexual Assault Kits: A 
Multidisciplinary Approach.''

DATES: Written public comment regarding the publication should be 
submitted through www.regulations.gov on or before September 2, 2016.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Heather Waltke, Associate Director, 
Office of Investigative and Forensic Sciences, National Institute of 
Justice, 810 7th Street NW., Washington, DC 20531, or via email at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence 
Reporting Act of 2013 (the ``SAFER Act'') was enacted as Title X of 
Public Law 113-4, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 
2013. It was created, in part, to develop protocols and practices 
appropriate for the accurate, timely, and effective collection and 
processing of DNA evidence, including protocols and practices specific 
to sexual assault cases, which shall address appropriate steps in the 
investigation of cases that might involve DNA evidence[.]'' \1\ More 
specifically, these protocols and practices are to provide 
recommendations in a variety of focus areas, including outlining 
parameters for identifying and prioritizing DNA evidence such as sexual 
assault kits (SAKs) to be tested, identifying reasonable time periods 
for testing, identifying effective processes for communicating 
information about evidence testing between stakeholders,

[[Page 51214]]

and establishing standards for conducting audits of sexual assault 
evidence that has never been submitted to a laboratory for testing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ 42 U.S.C. 14135(o)(1).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The National Institute of Justice (NIJ)--the research, development 
and evaluation agency of the U.S. Department of Justice--convened 
several working group meetings representing victims, victim advocates, 
sexual assault nurse examiners, medical examiners, forensic 
laboratories, law enforcement agencies, prosecutors and the judiciary. 
The working group was directed to address issues relating to evidence 
collection; prioritization of evidence and time periods for collection; 
evidence inventory, tracking, and auditing technology solutions; and 
communication strategies. The working group met over a twenty-four 
month period to develop recommendations for sexual assault evidence, 
whether it originates from a SAK collected decades ago and was recently 
discovered in storage during a statutorily-mandated inventory or, from 
a SAK collected in connection with a recent sexual assault. Following 
months of drafting and deliberations, including input from many 
stakeholders during that time, NIJ is now requesting comments on a 
DRAFT document titled, ``National Best Practices for Sexual Assault 
Kits: A Multidisciplinary Approach.'' This document is intended to 
provide a multidisciplinary and diverse group of practitioners with 
critical information that will assist in the collection, tracking, and 
processing of sexual assault kits. In addition, the document provides 
victim-centered and trauma-informed approaches to assisting victims 
throughout the criminal justice process.
    Posting of Public Comments: To ensure proper handling of comments, 
please reference ``Docket No. 1723'' on all electronic correspondence. 
All comments regarding the National Best Practices for Sexual Assault 
Kits: A Multidisciplinary Approach should be submitted electronically 
through www.regulations.gov using the electronic comment form provided 
on that site. All comments submitted to www.regulations.gov will be 
posted for public review and are part of the official docket record. 
NIJ encourages the public to comment and all comments will be 
considered; however, no direct feedback or responses to comments will 
be provided.
    In accordance with the Federal Records Act, please note that all 
comments received are considered part of the public record, and shall 
be made available for public inspection online at http://www.regulations.gov. The comments to be posted may include personally 
identifiable information (such as your name, address, etc.) and 
confidential business information voluntarily submitted by the 
commenter.
    DOJ will post all comments received on http://www.regulations.gov 
without making any changes to the comments or redacting any 
information, including any personally identifiable information 
provided. It is the responsibility of the commenter to safeguard 
personally identifiable information. You are not required to submit 
personally identifying information in order to comment on this document 
and NIJ recommends that commenters not include personally identifiable 
information such as Social Security Numbers, personal addresses, 
telephone numbers, and email addresses that they do not want made 
public in their comments as such submitted information will be 
available to the public via http://www.regulations.gov. Comments 
submitted through http://www.regulations.gov will not include the email 
address of the commenter unless the commenter chooses to include that 
information as part of his or her comment.

Gerald LaPorte,
Director, Office of Investigative and Forensic Sciences, National 
Institute of Justice.
[FR Doc. 2016-18334 Filed 8-2-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-18-P