Amends TCA Title 39 and Title 40.

This bill authorizes a person to be prosecuted, tried, and punished at any time after the commission of an offense if:<br /> <br /> (A) The offense was aggravated rape or rape;<br /> <br /> (B) The victim was an adult at the time of the offense;<br /> <br /> (C) The victim notifies law enforcement or the office of the district attorney general of the offense within 10 years of the offense; and<br /> <br /> (D) The offense is committed on or after July 1, 2023; or prior to July 1, 2023, unless prosecution for the offense is barred because the applicable time limitation set out for prosecution of the offense expired prior to July 1, 2023.<br /> <br /> If (A)-(D) above does not apply to the specified offenses, then this bill requires prosecution to be commenced within the times otherwise provided by provisions regarding limitations of felony prosecutions.<br /> <br /> Present law requires a law enforcement agency to, within 30 days of taking possession of the sexual assault evidence collection kit with the victim's name affixed to it, submit the kit to the Tennessee bureau of investigation (TBI) or similar qualified laboratory for either serology or DNA testing.<br /> <br /> Present law further requires that upon receipt of a sexual assault evidence collection kit of an adult victim that is coded with a number rather than a name pending the victim's decision to report the crime to law enforcement authorities, and that has not been submitted to the state crime lab or similar qualified laboratory, the law enforcement agency must store the kit for a minimum of 10 years or until the victim makes a police report, whichever event occurs first. This bill clarifies that the law enforcement agency must store the kit for a minimum of 10 years from the date of the alleged offense.<br />