The House Committee on Courts and Criminal Code heard SB 333 sponsored by Representative Mahan regarding body cavity searches and blood draws. The bill establishes a procedure authorizing licensed medical personnel to obtain a bodily fluid sample or to retrieve contraband from the body cavity of an individual as part of a criminal investigation, and grants, with certain exceptions, immunity to medical personnel. The bill further provides that, in the case of an emergency medical services provider or a law enforcement officer who is exposed to a patient’s blood or bodily fluids, certain persons may seek a warrant from a circuit or superior court requiring that an unwilling patient provide a blood or bodily fluid specimen for testing for a dangerous communicable disease.
The bill was amended by consent to make technical corrections. Testifying in support was the Indiana Public Defender Council, the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council, and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. The amended bill passed 11-0.
Read the bill at: http://www.iga.in.gov/legislative/2019/bills/senate/333.