(a) A law enforcement employee who believes that he or she came into contact with bodily fluids of either an inmate of a correctional institution, a person not in a correctional institution who has been arrested or taken into custody whether or not the person has been charged with a crime, including a person detained for or charged with an offense for which he or she may be made a ward of the court under Section 602 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, a person charged with any crime, whether or not the person is in custody, on postrelease community supervision, mandatory supervision pursuant to paragraph (5) of subdivision (h) of Section 1170, or on probation or parole due to conviction of a crime, shall report the incident through the completion of a form provided by the State Department of Public Health. The form shall be directed to the chief medical officer, as defined in subdivision (c), who serves the applicable law enforcement employee. Utilizing this form the law enforcement employee may request a test for HIV or hepatitis B or C of the person who is the subject of the report. The forms may be combined with regular incident reports or other forms used by the correctional institution or law enforcement agency, however the processing of a form by the chief medical officer containing a request for HIV or hepatitis B or C testing of the subject person shall not be delayed by the processing of other reports or forms.
(b) The report required by subdivision (a) shall be submitted by the end of the law enforcement employee’s shift during which the incident occurred, or if not practicable, as soon as possible, but no longer than two days after the incident, except that the chief medical officer may waive this filing period requirement if he or she finds that good cause exists. The report shall include names of witnesses to the incident, names of persons involved in the incident, and if feasible, any written statements from these parties. The law enforcement employee shall assist in the investigation of the incident, as requested by the chief medical officer.
(c) For purposes of this section, Section 7503, and Section 7511, “chief medical officer” means:
(1) In the case of a report filed by a staff member of a state prison, the chief medical officer of that facility.
(2) In the case of a parole officer filing a report, the chief medical officer of the nearest state prison.
(3) In the case of a report filed by an employee of the Division of Juvenile Justice, the chief medical officer of the facility.
(4) In the case of a report filed against a subject who is an inmate of a city or county jail or a county- or city-operated juvenile facility, or a court facility, or who has been arrested or taken into custody whether or not the person has been charged with a crime, but who is not in a correctional facility, including a person detained for, or charged with, an offense for which he or she may be made a ward of the court under Section 602 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, or a person charged with a crime, whether or not the person is in custody, the county health officer of the county in which the individual is jailed or charged with the crime.
(5) In the case of a report filed by a probation officer, a prosecutor or staff person, a public defender attorney or staff person, the county health officer of the county in which the probation officer, prosecutor or staff person, a public defender attorney or staff person, is employed.
(6) In any instance where the chief medical officer, as determined pursuant to this subdivision, is not a physician and surgeon, the chief medical officer shall designate a physician and surgeon to perform his or her duties under this title.
(Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 43, Sec. 57. (SB 1023) Effective June 27, 2012.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018