BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2499
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
2499 (Maienschein)
As Amended August 16, 2016
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: | 80-0 |(June 1, 2016) |SENATE: |39-0 |(August 17, |
| | | | | |2016) |
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Original Committee Reference: PUB. S.
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.
The Senate amendments un-codify legislative findings and
declarations.
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
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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,
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
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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
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 Senate Appropriations
Committee,
1)Process development: One-time minor costs of less than
$50,000 (General Fund) to the DOJ to develop a process by
which victims may inquire regarding status of their sexual
assault evidence kits.
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2)Process implementation: Unknown; potential future costs in
excess of $100,000 (General Fund) in programming costs to
enable victims to securely access the SAFE-T database, or
alternatively, to support DOJ staffing to accept and process
inquiries from victims and query the SAFE-T database
internally to respond to requests. Potential costs would be
dependent on the process established, which is undetermined at
this time but required to be established by July 1, 2018.
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."
Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion
of this bill.
Analysis Prepared by:
Matt Dean / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744 FN:0004429