Bill would fold sexual‑assault advisory panel into state Committee on Domestic Violence and broaden membership

The attorney general’s office asked the Assembly Judiciary Committee to approve Assembly Bill 45, which would consolidate an advisory committee on sexual‑assault survivors’ rights into the existing Committee on Domestic Violence and update statutory language to reflect contemporary practice.

Teresa Benitez Thompson, chief of staff at the Office of the Attorney General, said the advisory committee created by prior legislation (AB 70 and AB 176 in 2019) accomplished its primary tasks—producing a survivors’ rights document and distributing one‑time grant funding of $150,000 in each of fiscal years 2019 and 2020—and that ongoing responsibilities are better handled by the Committee on Domestic Violence. “The advisory committee has accomplished those two main objectives,” Benitez Thompson said.

The bill would retitle the panel to the Committee on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault and add conforming language throughout statute. Section 4, as laid out by presenters, modifies board composition to ensure sexual‑assault survivors are represented: it specifies seats for one survivor of domestic violence and one survivor of sexual assault, requests a staff member from a sexual‑assault victim program and adds a medical professional experienced with sexual‑assault forensic evidence kits. Section 9 transfers much of the advisory committee’s former sexual‑assault kit work into the Committee on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault while ongoing monitoring of the sexual‑assault kit backlog remains with the Department of Public Safety, presenters said.

Teresa Benitez Thompson and Nicole Riley, introduced in committee as the ombudsman for the Committee on Domestic Violence, said the change reflects how service providers have evolved: “All of the service providers but one are now dual service providers, meaning that they serve the domestic violence population and those who are the victims of sexual assault,” Benitez Thompson said. The bill also would remove a now‑outdated statutory reference to a specific vendor product for victim notifications (VINE) and instead use the generic phrase “victim notification system.”

Supporters who testified included Serena Evans, policy director for the Nevada Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence, who said the coalition strongly supports continuing the advisory committee’s work through the larger committee. Angela Knott of the Washoe County Public Defender’s Office and Paloma Guerrero of the Clark County Public Defender’s Office also testified in support; both urged lawmakers to approve AB 45 because added support and education for sexual‑assault survivors can prevent further victimization and reduce downstream criminalization.

Committee members asked operational questions. Assemblymember Roth asked which roles advocates fill (hospital response, courtroom accompaniment or both); Nicole Riley said community advocates serve both hospitals and courts and receive training. Assemblymember Hansen asked about meeting frequency and vacancies; Riley said the committee meets statutorily three times a year (including one rural meeting), forms subcommittees when needed and has a few seats to fill but that clinicians and survivors who currently attend as members of the public would fill the newly specified positions.

There was no recorded opposition testimony during the hearing. Presenters said consolidation had been recommended by a legislative commission subset committee and that the committee on domestic violence had voted to accept the transferred duties.

The committee closed the AB 45 hearing with presenters offering to answer follow‑up questions and provide any requested details on membership and statutory conforming language.