About Sexual Offense Evidence Collection Kits (SOECKs)

The Office of Victim Services (OVS) is responsible for storing sexual offense evidence collection kits (SOECKs) that have not been released to law enforcement (unreported kits). Public Health Law requires the state to store kits for 20 years. This gives victims of crime and survivors of sexual assault the additional time they may need to decide whether to report the crime and request that OVS release their kit to law enforcement for testing or consider other options.