BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 2499 Page 1 CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS AB 2499 (Maienschein) As Amended August 16, 2016 Majority vote -------------------------------------------------------------------- |ASSEMBLY: | 80-0 |(June 1, 2016) |SENATE: |39-0 |(August 17, | | | | | | |2016) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 AB 2499 Page 2 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 AB 2499 Page 3 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. AB 2499 Page 4 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