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,      |
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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