HLS 19RS-3794 ORIGINAL
2019 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 315
BY REPRESENTATIVE NORTON
CRIME/SEX OFFENSES: Requests the Administration of Criminal Justice Committee to
study the practicality of increasing the time to prosecute certain sex offenses
1 A RESOLUTION
2To urge and request the House Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice to study
3 the effects of increasing the time period within which to institute prosecution of sex
4 offenses.
5 WHEREAS, sexual assault is a serious and widespread problem affecting millions
6of people each year in the United States with one in three women and one in four men
7experiencing sexual assault involving physical contact during their lifetimes, and nearly one
8in five women and one in thirty-eight men experiencing completed or attempted rape; and
9 WHEREAS, researchers know that these numbers underestimate this problem as
10many cases go unreported because victims may be ashamed, embarrassed, or afraid to report
11or because victims have been threatened with further harm if they report; and
12 WHEREAS, Louisiana law provides certain time limitations within which
13prosecution is required to be instituted for certain offenses; and
14 WHEREAS, Louisiana law provides that there is no time limitation upon the
15institution of prosecution for any crime which is punishable by death or life imprisonment,
16or for the crime of second degree rape; and
17 WHEREAS, Louisiana law further provides for a thirty-year period in which to
18institute prosecution for certain sex offenses when the victim is under the age of seventeen;
19and
20 WHEREAS, for all other offenses, Louisiana law provides a six-year limit for a
21felony necessarily punishable by imprisonment at hard labor; a four-year limit for a felony
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HR NO. 315
1not necessarily punishable by imprisonment at hard labor; a two-year limit for a
2misdemeanor punishable by a fine, imprisonment, or both; and a six-month limit for a
3misdemeanor punishable only by a fine or forfeiture; and
4 WHEREAS, in some cases where the identity of the offender who has committed a
5sex offense is established through the use of a DNA profile, Louisiana law provides that
6prosecution of the offender for the sex offense may be commenced beyond the time
7limitations set forth in current law.
8 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
9Legislature of Louisiana does hereby urge and request the House Committee on
10Administration of Criminal Justice to study the effects of increasing the time period within
11which to institute prosecution of sex offenses as follows:
12 (1) For a sex offense not involving a victim under the age of seventeen, extend the
13time within which to institute prosecution to ten years, and provide that this ten-year period
14may be extended for an additional fifteen years if new and material evidence is discovered
15prior to the expiration of the ten-year period.
16 (2) For a sex offense committed against a victim who is under the age of seventeen,
17extend the existing thirty-year period for an additional fifteen years if new and material
18evidence is discovered prior to the expiration of the thirty-year period.
19 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED in the undertaking of the study, the House
20Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice may seek input from relevant agencies,
21organizations, and stakeholders, may request research, documents, or data, conduct public
22hearings, and take any other actions it deems necessary to carry out its function.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HR 315 Original 2019 Regular Session Norton
Requests the House Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice to study the effects
of increasing the time period within which to institute prosecution of sex offenses.
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