Mo. Rev. Stat. § 589.030

Current with changes from the 2024 Legislative Session

Section 589.030 - Duties of department of public safety - grants - statistics - training programs - reports - telephone reporting system

1. The director of the department of public safety shall establish within the department the "State Center for the Prevention and Control of Sexual Assault"*.

2. The director of the department of public safety, acting through the center, may, directly or by grant, carry out the following:

(1) A continuing study of sexual assault, including a study and investigation of:

(a) The effectiveness of existing state and local laws dealing with sexual assault;

(b) The relationship, if any, between traditional legal and social attitudes toward sexual roles, the act of sexual assault and the formulation of laws dealing with sexual assault;

(c) The treatment of the victims of sexual assault by law enforcement agencies, hospitals and other medical institutions, prosecutors and the courts;

(d) The causes of sexual assault, identifying, to the degree possible, the social conditions which encourage sexual assault and the motives of the offenders;

(e) The impact of sexual assault on the victim and the family of the victim;

(f) Sexual assault in correctional institutions;

(g) The actual incidence of sexual assault as compared to the reported incidence of sexual assault and the reasons for any difference in such incidences; and

(h) The effectiveness of existing private, local and state government educational, counseling and other programs designed to prevent and control sexual assault;

(2) The compilation, analysis and publication of summaries of the continuing study conducted under subdivision (1) of this subsection and the research and demonstration projects conducted under subdivision (5) of this section. The director of the department of public safety shall annually submit to the governor, the chief justice of the supreme court and the members of the general assembly a summary of such study and projects together with recommendations, where appropriate;

(3) The compilation and publication of training materials for personnel who are engaged in, or who intend to engage in, programs designed to prevent or control sexual assault;

(4) The development and maintenance of an information system with regard to the prevention and control of sexual assault, the treatment and counseling of the victims of sexual assault and their families, the rehabilitation of offenders and medical treatment;

(5) Assistance to community mental health centers and other qualified public and not-for-profit private entities in conducting research and demonstration projects concerning the prevention and control of sexual assault including, but not limited to, projects for:

(a) The planning, development, implementation, and evaluation of alternative methods used in the prevention and control of sexual assault, the treatment and counseling of the victims of sexual assault and their families, and the rehabilitation of offenders;

(b) For the application of such alternative methods; and

(c) For the promotion of community awareness of the specific locations in which, and the specific social and other conditions under which, sexual assaults are most likely to occur;

(6) Establish and maintain a telephone service, operating at all times, capable of receiving calls made concerning incidents of sexual assault so that callers may be instructed as to what steps to take in reporting sexual assault to the proper law enforcement authorities and where victims of sexual assault can receive counseling and assistance concerning incidents of sexual assault;

(7) Establish means whereby the existence of state and local programs to assist victims of sexual assault will be publicized to the public.

3. The center is hereby designated as the state sexual assault agency for all purposes of any federal sexual assault prevention act and may:

(1) Take all necessary and appropriate actions to obtain for this state all benefits offered under any federal act dealing with sexual assault and its prevention;

(2) Apply for and receive federal funds made available under any federal act;

(3) Participate, through its authorized representative, in proceedings under any federal act.

§ 589.030, RSMo

L. 1980 H.B. 1138, et al. § 5