5.15Notification of Communicable Disease Test or Examination Results

The Public Health Code, MCL 333.5101 et seq., requires criminal defendants and juveniles charged with or convicted or adjudicated of certain offenses to submit to testing or examination for communicable diseases. This section contains a brief discussion on the Public Health Code’s requirements to provide notice to the victim of the test and examination results. For additional information on the court’s authority to order testing and counseling for certain communicable diseases, see the Michigan Judicial Institute’s Sexual Assault Benchbook, Chapter 6.

In cases involving sexual penetration, sexual contact, or exposure to the body fluids during the course of the crime, if the victim consents, the court must provide the person or agency conducting the mandatory examinations or tests¹ under MCL 333.5129(3)-(4) with the name, address, and telephone number of the victim, and the person or agency administering the tests must notify the victim immediately of the results (and subsequent results “if the defendant or [juvenile] receives appropriate follow up testing for the presence of HIV”) and refer the victim for appropriate counseling. MCL 333.5129(5). If the victim is a minor or otherwise incapacitated, the victim’s parent, guardian, or person in loco parentis may give the required consent for notification. Id. If the victim is found to be infected with a communicable disease, the agency providing the testing or counseling must refer the victim for appropriate medical care. MCL 333.5129(8).