Call Now
713-521-0059
Any hospital on the Houston Police Department’s list of SAFE-ready facilities will perform a forensic exam, free of charge, with or without a police report. The list below is copied from the department’s Notice to Victims of Sexual Assault dated 8 August 2025. Call the hospital before you go if you can, so the forensic nurse can be ready when you arrive.
If you need someone to talk to first, the Houston Area Women’s Center sexual assault hotline is 1-800-256-0661, free and answered around the clock. The national hotline is 800-656-4673.
For an adult, the law gives you 120 hours. Article 56A.303 of the Code of Criminal Procedure requires a hospital to perform the exam for an adult who arrives within 120 hours of the assault and consents. After 120 hours, the exam is still required where the police refer you, or where a doctor or sexual assault nurse examiner evaluates you and decides an exam should be done. For a child, the statute applies regardless of when the child arrives.
The Houston Police Department’s notice puts it this way: “For adult victims, obtain a forensic medical examination within 120 hours of the assault to collect potential evidence and receive preventative medications, even if you decide not to make a report to a law enforcement agency.”
Bring the clothes you were wearing if you have changed, in a paper bag, and your phone. If you can, avoid showering, brushing your teeth, eating, drinking or changing clothes before the exam. If you already have, go anyway. Evidence can still be collected, and the medical care matters on its own.
You do not have to decide about reporting before the exam. Under Article 56A.303(c), you “may not be required to participate in the investigation or prosecution of an offense as a condition of receiving a forensic medical examination”. If you are able to report now, it is usually the best choice for any later case, criminal or civil, because the police can secure evidence a private letter cannot.
Yes. Texas Forensic Nurse Examiners, which also operates as the Forensic Center of Excellence, runs a Houston-area hotline answered by a forensic nurse 24 hours a day at 281-306-6893. The University of Houston’s health center describes it this way: “Anyone can call the Forensic Center of Excellence 24/7 hotline answered by a forensic nurse to request an exam.” Choose the option to speak to a forensic nurse, and the nurse can tell you whether an exam is appropriate and where the nearest one can be done. Exams can be arranged at the Forensic Center Clinic near Richmond and Kirby, at partner hospitals and at other locations in the area.
The same page states the rule for adults plainly: “If you are over the age of 18, you do not have to report to law enforcement to receive a medical forensic exam.”
Every statute and case linked above was read at its primary source. Texas statutes change every legislative session and case law is constantly changing.
This page is general information about Texas law. It is not legal advice about your situation, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.
If you remember nothing else from this page, remember these.
This page exists so you can find care tonight. When you are ready, call us. We do what your case needs, beginning with written notice to whoever holds the video and records so the evidence is kept. There is no charge to talk, and no attorney’s fee unless there is a recovery.
Call 713-521-0059.
Nurses, advocates and counselors: a printable card for the people you see, with these hotlines, what to keep and how to reach us, is on our page for advocates and SANE nurses, or download the referral card (PDF).
Any hospital on the Houston Police Department's SAFE-ready list, including Ben Taub, Lyndon B. Johnson and the Memorial Hermann and Houston Methodist hospitals listed above. If you are not sure where to go, call the forensic nurse hotline at 281-306-6893 first.
For an adult, a hospital must perform the exam if you arrive within 120 hours. After that, it is still required on a referral from the police or from an examiner who evaluates you.
Under Article 56A.304(f) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, you may not be required to pay for the forensic portion of the exam or the kit. Other treatment that night may be billed separately.
No. The statute says you may not be required to participate in an investigation or prosecution as a condition of the exam. Reporting promptly is still usually best for any case that follows.
No. Evidence can still be collected after a shower, and the medical care and preventive medication matter regardless. Go anyway.