Committee backs bill to expand sexual‑assault evidence kits and audit SANE services across Louisiana

The Senate Health and Welfare Committee reported House Bill 5 31 favorable after testimony from law enforcement, hospital officials and a practicing Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE).

Representative Travis Johnson’s measure, carried in the Senate by a committee member, would require licensed hospitals and health‑care providers to offer sexual‑assault survivors information about forensic examinations and survivor services, and it requests a legislative audit of services and capacity across the state. Sponsors described the bill as a practical step to ensure physical evidence is collected and survivors are informed of options.

Sheriff David Hedrick of Concordia Parish described the bill as important to investigators: “It’s very important to all the sheriffs in the state of Louisiana that all the physical evidence is collected when dealing with any sexual crime of any nature,” he told the committee. Chief Deputy Fred Middleton said rural hospitals often lack certified SANE nurses and that easier access to trained examiners would reduce transfer delays for victims.

Monica Taylor of the governor’s office on human trafficking said there are two different training standards in Louisiana — a shorter 40‑hour course and a longer 400‑hour program — and described a “drought” of SANE centers and advocates in some parishes. She told the committee that there are roughly 50 SANE nurses statewide and only a little more than 30 currently practicing.

A practicing SANE nurse who testified described the standard training pathway: the International Association of Forensic Nurses provides a roughly 40‑hour adult/adolescent online course, a 44‑hour pediatric module and supervised clinical hours (several hundred) before certification. She asked lawmakers to involve current SANE programs in any changes, saying, “we kind of already have the pulse of what’s going on across Louisiana.”

Committee members pressed for clarity on training, funding, and how rural parishes would access advocacy services. Taylor said the bill’s legislative‑audit requirement would help identify gaps: several rural parishes have no assault advocacy centers and many centers lack general state funding.

After discussion of an amendment filed earlier, the committee adopted an amendment and Senator Luno moved that the committee report House Bill 5 31 as amended. The motion carried with no objections recorded and the bill was reported favorable.