BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2499
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
2499 (Maienschein)
As Amended May 27, 2016
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Public Safety |7-0 |Jones-Sawyer, | |
| | |Melendez, Lackey, | |
| | |Lopez, Low, Quirk, | |
| | |Santiago | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |20-0 |Gonzalez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bloom, Bonilla, | |
| | |Bonta, Calderon, | |
| | |Chang, Daly, Eggman, | |
| | |Gallagher, Eduardo | |
| | |Garcia, Roger | |
| | |Hernández, Holden, | |
| | |Jones, Obernolte, | |
| | |Quirk, Santiago, | |
| | |Wagner, Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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AB 2499
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SUMMARY: Requires the Department of Justice (DOJ), on or before
July 1, 2018, and in consultation with law enforcement agencies
and crime victims groups, to establish a process by which
victims of sexual assault may inquire regarding the location and
information regarding their sexual assault evidence kits.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and Forensic
Identification Database and Data Bank Program to assist
federal, state, and local criminal justice and law enforcement
agencies within and outside California in the expeditious and
accurate detection and prosecution of individuals responsible
for sex offenses and other crimes, the exclusion of suspects
who are being investigated for these crimes, and the
identification of missing and unidentified persons,
particularly abducted children.
2)Encourages DNA analysis of rape kits within the statute of
limitations, which states that a criminal complaint must be
filed within one year after the identification of the suspect
by DNA evidence, and that DNA evidence must be analyzed within
two years of the offense for which it was collected.
3)Encourages law enforcement agencies to submit rape kits to
crime labs within 20 days after the kit is booked into
evidence.
4)Encourages the establishment of rapid turnaround DNA programs,
where the rape kit is sent directly from the facility where it
was collected to the lab for testing within five days.
5)Encourages crime labs to do one of the following:
a) Process rape kits, create DNA profiles when possible,
AB 2499
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and upload qualifying DNA profiles into the combined DNA
Index System (CODIS) within 120 days of receipt of the rape
kit; or
b) Transmit the rape kit to another crime lab within 30
days to create a DNA profile, and then upload the profile
into CODIS within 30 days of being notified about the
presence of DNA.
6)Requires law enforcement agencies to inform victims of sexual
assault, as specified, to notify the victim if their rape kit
is not tested six months prior to the statute of limitations
for underlying sexual assault offense.
7)Requires law enforcement agencies to inform victims of sexual
assault, as specified, to notify the victim if the law
enforcement agency intends to destroy a rape kit in an
unsolved case prior to the expiration of the statute of
limitations for the underlying sexual assault offense.
8)Allows law enforcement agencies to inform victims of sexual
assault, as specified, of the status of their rape kit when
the victim requests an update.
9)States that sexual assault victims have the following rights,
subject to the commitment of sufficient resources to respond
to requests for information:
a) The right to be informed whether or not a DNA profile of
the assailant was obtained from the testing of their rape
kit or from other evidence from the crime scene,
b) The right to be informed whether or not the DNA profile
of the assailant has been entered into DOJ's Data Bank of
case evidence, and
AB 2499
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c) The right to be informed whether or not there was a
match between the DNA profile of the assailant and a DNA
profile contained in CODIS, provided that disclosure would
not impede or compromise an ongoing investigation.
10)Encourages law enforcement to notify victims of information
in their possession regarding victims' rape kits.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, Unknown moderate cost to DOJ, probably in the
$100,000 range to develop the required process, and some unknown
ongoing costs based on the process established.
COMMENTS: According to the author, "The upgrade required in AB
2499, will give a victim of sexual assault the ability to track
the progress of their DNA kit while it is being analyzed and
processed in the crime lab via a secure, electronic process.
This will provide the victims with peace of mind by being able
to see where their kit is in the process and ensure that law
enforcement is doing their duty to analyze the DNA kit in a
timely manner."
Analysis Prepared by:
Stella Choe/ PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744 FN:
0003166
AB 2499
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