(a)Each law enforcement agency, medical facility, public crime laboratory, and any other entity that receives, maintains, stores, or preserves sexual assault evidence kits shall participate in an audit of all untested sexual assault kits in their
possession pursuant to this section.
(b)No later than July 1, 2026, each law enforcement agency and public crime laboratory subject to subdivision (a) shall create a record in the SAFE-T database, pursuant to Section 680.3, for every victim sexual assault kit in their possession that has not had DNA testing completed as of July 1, 2026.
(1)If a medical facility submitted selected evidence samples directly to a crime laboratory under a rapid turnaround DNA program, and those samples have been taken through the DNA testing process, the enti
Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI
(a)
Each law enforcement agency, medical facility, public crime laboratory, and any other entity that receives, maintains, stores, or preserves sexual assault evidence kits shall participate in an audit of all untested sexual assault kits in their
possession pursuant to this section.
(b)
No later than July 1, 2026, each law enforcement agency and public crime laboratory subject to subdivision (a) shall create a record in the SAFE-T database, pursuant to Section 680.3, for every victim sexual assault kit in their possession that has not had DNA testing completed as of July 1, 2026.
(1)
If a medical facility submitted selected evidence samples directly to a crime laboratory under a rapid turnaround DNA program, and those samples have been taken through the DNA testing process, the entire sexual assault kit shall be considered tested for the purposes of this section.
(2)
A kit that has only undergone biological screening shall not be considered tested for the purposes of this section. A tested kit is one that has been taken, at minimum, through the DNA quantitation process, and either of the
following:
(A)
If the DNA quantitation results indicate that there is no DNA foreign to the victim, or the foreign DNA is of insufficient quality and quantity for DNA typing to provide genetic information about an alleged perpetrator, analysis can stop at DNA quantitation, and the kit shall be considered tested for the purposes of this section.
(B)
If the DNA quantitation results indicate that DNA typing may provide genetic information about an alleged perpetrator, and the DNA is of sufficient quantity and quality to be successfully typed, the analysis shall continue through DNA typing for the kit to be considered tested for the purposes of this section.
(3)
The SAFE-T database shall only contain records for sexual assault evidence kits collected from victims. Sexual assault evidence kits collected from suspects
shall also be subject to the audit pursuant to this section, but they shall not be entered into the SAFE-T database. The following information shall be reported separately by each entity in a format prescribed by the Department of Justice:
(A)
The total number of untested suspect sexual assault kits in their possession.
(B)
For each suspect kit, the following information:
(i)
The date the suspect kit was collected.
(ii)
The date the suspect kit was picked up by a law enforcement agency, for each law enforcement agency that has taken custody of the kit.
(iii)
The date the suspect kit was delivered to a crime laboratory.
(iv)
The reason the suspect kit has not been tested, if applicable.
(4)
Sexual assault evidence other than evidence collected in kits, including clothing and bedding, DNA reference samples collected from suspects and consensual partners, and kits collected under circumstances where no sexual assault is alleged or suspected to have occurred, are not subject to this audit and shall not be entered into the SAFE-T database or reported for this audit.
(c)
No later than July 1, 2026, each medical facility and other non-law enforcement entity subject to subdivision (a) shall report to the Department of Justice, in the format prescribed by the department, all of the following:
(1)
The total number of untested sexual assault kits in their possession that were not submitted to a law enforcement agency or public
crime laboratory because the victim chose not to report the assault to law enforcement at the time of collection, and had not chosen to report the assault to law enforcement by the time of the audit.
(2)
For untested sexual assault evidence kits in their possession where the victim chose to report the assault to law enforcement:
(A)
The total number of untested sexual assault kits in their possession.
(B)
For each kit, the following information:
(i)
The date the kit was collected.
(ii)
The name of the medical facility, law enforcement agency, public crime laboratory, or other entity from which the kit was received.
(iii)
The
date the kit was received by the entity.
(iv)
The reason the kit has not been submitted to a law enforcement agency or public crime laboratory.
(C)
This reporting requirement does not apply to untested kits that have been recently collected and are temporarily being stored pending release to a law enforcement agency or public crime laboratory.
(d)
The Department of Justice shall, by no later than July 1, 2027, prepare and submit a report to the Legislature summarizing the information received
pursuant to
subdivisions (b) and (c).
(e)
The report required by subdivision (d) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.