PRINTER'S NO. 728
No. 681 Session of 2007
INTRODUCED BY ORIE, RHOADES, MUSTO, ERICKSON, PUNT, KITCHEN,
WONDERLING, GORDNER, STACK, FONTANA, LOGAN, STOUT, VANCE,
PIPPY, PICCOLA, BAKER, WOZNIAK, RAFFERTY, M. WHITE AND
WASHINGTON, MARCH 23, 2007
REFERRED TO JUDICIARY, MARCH 23, 2007
AN ACT
1 Amending Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of the
2 Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, establishing a Statewide
3 automated victim information and notification (SAVIN) system.
4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 hereby enacts as follows:
6 Section 1. Title 42 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated
7 Statutes is amended by adding a chapter to read:
8 CHAPTER 96
9 SAVIN SYSTEM
10 Sec.
11 9601. Establishment.
12 9602. Obligation to notify.
13 9603. Updates.
14 9604. Cooperation.
15 9605. Administration.
16 § 9601. Establishment.
17 The Pennsylvania State Police shall establish a Statewide
1 automated victim information and notification (SAVIN) system
2 that will do all of the following:
3 (1) Automatically notify a victim via the victim's
4 choice of telephone, letter or e-mail when an offender housed
5 in a State or county jail:
6 (i) is transferred or assigned to another facility;
7 (ii) is transferred to the custody of another agency
8 outside the State;
9 (iii) is given a different security classification;
10 (iv) is released on temporary leave or otherwise;
11 (v) is discharged;
12 (vi) has escaped; or
13 (vii) has been served with a protective order that
14 was requested by the victim.
15 (2) Automatically notify a victim via the victim's
16 choice of telephone, letter or e-mail when an offender has:
17 (i) an upcoming court event where the victim is
18 entitled to be present;
19 (ii) an upcoming parole or pardon hearing; or
20 (iii) a change in status of the offender's parole or
21 probation status, including a change in the offender's
22 supervision status and a change in the offender's
23 address.
24 (3) Automatically notify a victim via the victim's
25 choice of telephone, letter or e-mail when a sex offender
26 has:
27 (i) updated the offender's profile information under
28 Chapter 97 (relating to sentencing); or
29 (ii) become noncompliant with registration
30 requirements of Chapter 97.
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1 (4) Permit a victim to receive the most recent status
2 report for an offender in a State or county jail or sex
3 offender registry by calling the SAVIN system on a toll-free
4 telephone number and by accessing the SAVIN system through an
5 Internet website.
6 (5) Give victims an option to have live operator
7 assistance to use the SAVIN program on a 24-hour-a-day, 365-
8 day-per-year basis.
9 (6) Permit a victim to register to use or to update the
10 victim's registration information for the SAVIN system by
11 calling a toll-free telephone number or accessing an Internet
12 website.
13 § 9602. Obligation to notify.
14 Participation in the SAVIN program and making offender and
15 case data available on a timely basis to the SAVIN program shall
16 satisfy the obligation to notify a victim of an offender's
17 custody status and the status of the offender's upcoming court
18 events.
19 § 9603. Updates.
20 The Pennsylvania State Police shall ensure that the offender
21 information contained within the automated victim notification
22 system is updated frequently enough to timely notify a victim
23 that an offender has been released, has been discharged or has
24 escaped. However, failure to provide notice to the victim shall
25 not establish a cause of action by the victim against State or
26 local officials or against the Pennsylvania State Police.
27 § 9604. Cooperation.
28 Local law enforcement officers shall cooperate with the
29 Pennsylvania State Police in establishing and maintaining the
30 automated victim information and notification system.
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1 § 9605. Administration.
2 The Pennsylvania State Police shall administer the automated
3 victim information and notification system. The costs of
4 administering the system shall be paid with appropriations made
5 to the Pennsylvania State Police and from Federal grants and
6 contracts.
7 Section 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
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