HF 614

as introduced - 91st Legislature (2019 - 2020) Posted on 05/02/2019 03:43pm

A bill for an act
relating to higher education; requiring notice to a sexual assault victim to include
information about the availability of legal advocacy services; amending Minnesota
Statutes 2018, section 135A.15, subdivision 2.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 135A.15, subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Victims' rights.

The policy required under subdivision 1 shall, at a minimum,
require that students and employees be informed of the policy, and shall include provisions
for:

(1) filing criminal charges with local law enforcement officials in sexual assault cases;

(2) the prompt assistance of campus authorities, at the request of the victim, in notifying
the appropriate law enforcement officials and disciplinary authorities of a sexual assault
incident;

(3) allowing sexual assault victims to decide whether to report a case to law enforcement;

(4) requiring campus authorities to treat sexual assault victims with dignity;

(5) requiring campus authorities to offer sexual assault victims fair and respectful health
care, counseling services, or referrals to such services;

(6) preventing campus authorities from suggesting to a victim of sexual assault that the
victim is at fault for the crimes or violations that occurred;

(7) preventing campus authorities from suggesting to a victim of sexual assault that the
victim should have acted in a different manner to avoid such a crime;

(8) subject to subdivision 10, protecting the privacy of sexual assault victims by only
disclosing data collected under this section to the victim, persons whose work assignments
reasonably require access, and, at a sexual assault victim's request, police conducting a
criminal investigation;

(9) an investigation and resolution of a sexual assault complaint by campus disciplinary
authorities;

(10) a sexual assault victim's participation in and the presence of the victim's attorney
or other support person who is not a fact witness to the sexual assault at any meeting with
campus officials concerning the victim's sexual assault complaint or campus disciplinary
proceeding concerning a sexual assault complaint;

(11) ensuring that a sexual assault victim may decide when to repeat a description of
the incident of sexual assault;

(12) notice to a sexual assault victim of the availability of a campus or local program
providing sexual assault advocacy services new text begin and legal advocacy services new text end ;

(13) notice to a sexual assault victim of the outcome of any campus disciplinary
proceeding concerning a sexual assault complaint, consistent with laws relating to data
practices;

(14) the complete and prompt assistance of campus authorities, at the direction of law
enforcement authorities, in obtaining, securing, and maintaining evidence in connection
with a sexual assault incident;

(15) the assistance of campus authorities in preserving for a sexual assault complainant
or victim materials relevant to a campus disciplinary proceeding;

(16) during and after the process of investigating a complaint and conducting a campus
disciplinary procedure, the assistance of campus personnel, in cooperation with the
appropriate law enforcement authorities, at a sexual assault victim's request, in shielding
the victim from unwanted contact with the alleged assailant, including transfer of the victim
to alternative classes or to alternative college-owned housing, if alternative classes or housing
are available and feasible;

(17) forbidding retaliation, and establishing a process for investigating complaints of
retaliation, against sexual assault victims by campus authorities, the accused, organizations
affiliated with the accused, other students, and other employees;

(18) at the request of the victim, providing students who reported sexual assaults to the
institution and subsequently choose to transfer to another postsecondary institution with
information about resources for victims of sexual assault at the institution to which the
victim is transferring; and

(19) consistent with laws governing access to student records, providing a student who
reported an incident of sexual assault with access to the student's description of the incident
as it was reported to the institution, including if that student transfers to another postsecondary
institution.