A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to transfer the warehouse formerly operated by the law enforcement support services division and its contents from the department of justice to the department of public safety and to assign the responsibilities for the storage and management of evidence housed in the warehouse to the department of public safety, as recommended by the joint legislative oversight committee on justice and public safety.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Section 19.1(cc) of S.L. 2011‑145 is repealed.
SECTION 2.  The evidence warehouse that was operated by the Law Enforcement Support Services Division of the Department of Crime Control and Public Safety prior to January 1, 2012, is transferred to the Office of External Affairs in the Department of Public Safety.  All State‑owned personal property located in or associated with the warehouse and all evidence of any type, including rape kits, located in the warehouse are reallocated to the Office of External Affairs in the Department of Public Safety.  The warehouse shall be known as the "Victim Services Warehouse."  The Department of Public Safety shall assume any lease to which the warehouse is subject at the time this section becomes effective.
SECTION 3.  G.S. 143B‑600(a)(7) reads as rewritten:
"(7)	The Office of External Affairs, which shall be responsible for federal and State liaison activities, victim services, the Victim Services Warehouse and the storage and management of evidence and other contents housed in the warehouse, and public affairs."
SECTION 4.  G.S. 143B‑601 is amended by adding the following new subdivisions to read:
"(12)	To provide central storage and management of evidence according to the provisions of Article 13 of Chapter 15A of the General Statutes and create  and maintain a databank of statewide storage locations of postconviction evidence or other similar programs.
(13)	To provide central storage and management of rape kits according to the federal Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005 with specific protections against release of names of victims providing anonymous or "Jane Doe" rape kits without victim consent.
(14)	To provide for the storage and management of evidence."
SECTION 5.  This act is effective when it becomes law.