Panel advances bill extending forensic exam window and adding domestic violence coverage

Senate Judiciary Committee members voted to advance Senate Bill 2209, a measure that would codify a pilot program expanding forensic medical exams to victims of domestic violence and extend the allowable exam window from 96 hours to 120 hours.

Senator Sean Cleary, who introduced the bill, told the panel the measure “mirrors what we did last legislative session with the pilot program” and would preserve services launched under last year’s pilot. The committee approved an amendment adding an estimated $200,000 appropriation for the biennium to pay for the expanded domestic-violence exams and then gave the bill a due-pass recommendation as amended. Senator Merdahl will carry the bill forward.

The bill responds to work started under Senate Bill 22002, a 2023 pilot that allowed forensic medical exams previously limited to sexual-assault victims to be provided to domestic-violence,…