BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1017
Page 1
GOVERNOR'S VETO
AB 1017 (Portantino and Brownley)
As Amended August 19, 2009
2/3 vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |78-0 |(June 2, 2009) |SENATE: |34-0 |(September 2, |
| | | | | |2009) |
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|ASSEMBLY: |78-0 |(September 8, | | | |
| | |2009) | | | |
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Original Committee Reference: PUB. S.
SUMMARY : Requires every local law enforcement agency
responsible for taking or processing rape evidence annually
report to the Department of Justice (DOJ) the total number of
rape kits received and tested during the preceding calendar
year, the total number of untested rape kits in its possession
as of January 1 of the reporting year, and the total number of
rape kits destroyed during the preceding calendar year and the
number of rape kits that law enforcement has requested be tested
that remain untested, and in each case, the number of rape kits
for which the identity of the suspect is unknown and the number
of rape kits for which the identity is contested.
The Senate amendments :
1)Eliminate the mandate that local law enforcement report the
total number of sexual assault crimes, as specified to the DOJ
in its jurisdiction.
2)States the reports received by the DOJ pursuant to the
requirements of this bill are subject to inspection under the
California Public Records Act, as specified.
3)States that for the information gathered by local law
AB 1017
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enforcement and reported to DOJ pursuant to the provisions of
this bill, local law enforcement must also include the number
of rape kits for which the identity of the suspect is unknown
and the number of rape kits for which the identity is
contested.
4)Includes information regarding the number of rape kits law
enforcement has requested be tested that remain untested.
5)Specifies the initial report to the DOJ as required by this
bill shall be made by July 1, 2011.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill:
1)Stated the initial report to the DOJ, as specified above,
shall include available statistics for the previous five
years.
2)Mandated each law enforcement agency annually report to the
DOJ the total number of sexual assault crimes reported in its
jurisdiction that would require registration as a sex
offender, as specified. The report shall be provided to the
DOJ in a form that reports the crimes by the code section
violated.
3)Stated these requirements shall only be in effect until July
1, 2015, and be repealed in January 1, 2016 unless extended.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, mandate on local law enforcement agencies unknown,
likely in excess of $50,000.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "Last year, it was
discovered that law enforcement agencies in Los Angeles City and
County had thousands of rape kits in their evidence freezers
that had not been tested. There were even some kits that had
been held in excess of the 10-year statute of limitations for
the crime of rape. Since that time, both the City and County of
Los Angeles have committed themselves to opening and testing of
every rape kit in their evidence rooms.
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"A rape kit is the physical evidence, often including DNA, that
is collected after a sexual assault. Timely testing of rape
kits is essential in identifying and convicting perpetrators who
are frequently repeat offenders. A representative of women's
issues has been quoted as saying, 'When a rape is committed, the
victim's body is the crime scene. They consent to its search in
the same way that a person who has suffered a property crime
consents to a search of their home, though it's themselves these
victims are opening to inspection.' To treat evidence gathered
at that excruciating moment in their lives by not testing it,
she said, 'betrays the victim's faith in the criminal justice
system.'
"It is vital that evidence of these crimes be processed. The
New York City Police Department in 1996 had over 17,000 untested
rape kits in its possession. At this time, they only had a
capacity to test 100 to 150 rape kits a year while they were
getting about 1,600 new kits each year. They made the
commitment to test the backlog of rape kits and all kits
received in the future. After their backlog of kits were
tested, they discovered 2,000 'hits' - or DNA matches - leading
to the solving of 154 cold rape cases, including the heinous
attacks on two teenagers by a serial rapist."
Please see the policy committee for a full discussion of this
bill.
GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE :
This measure would require law enforcement agencies
to annually report to the Department of Justice
(DOJ) information pertaining to the total number of
rape kits received and tested during the preceding
calendar year, the total number of untested kits in
its possession as of January 1 of the reporting
year, and the number of rape kits that law
enforcement has requested to be tested that remain
untested.
I strongly support efforts to ensure that rape kits
are analyzed and processed in a timely manner in
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order to identify and prosecute sex offenders.
However, requiring law enforcement agencies to
provide backlog statistics to the DOJ would place
significant cost burdens on these agencies and would
divert scarce resources away from processing these
kits. In addition, this measure does not require
the DOJ to do anything with the reports received.
Assuming that the DOJ would have to administer,
collect, and manage these records, this could impose
additional costs pressures on the DOJ.
Since this measure would create additional state
costs that cannot be accommodated in a time of
fiscal crisis, I am returning this bill without my
signature.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Horiuchi / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744
FN: 0003346