BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 322
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 322 (Portantino)
As Amended August 30, 2011
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |61-13|(June 1, 2011) |SENATE: |35-2 |(September 6, |
| | | | | |2011) |
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Original Committee Reference: PUB. S.
SUMMARY : Requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) to establish
a ten-county pilot project to open and test all rape kits
collected in those counties during the period of the pilot
project.
The Senate amendments:
1)Create a ten-county pilot program in which all collected rape
kits collected in those counties will be processed by the DOJ
commencing July 1, 2012.
2)Provide that the counties chosen for inclusion shall be
counties with an arrest rate of less than 12% for the crime of
forcible rape as reported to the Attorney General's office for
the reporting periods of 2007-2009, and states those counties
are: Alpine; Amador; Colusa; El Dorado; Napa; Nevada; Plumas;
Shasta; Tehama; and, Tuolumne.
3)Require the DOJ to establish a process, in cooperation with
the pilot project county, regarding collection, storage, and
testing of the rape kits obtained from the pilot-project
counties.
4)State that the purpose of this pilot project is to determine
whether counties with the lowest arrest rates in California
for the crime of forcible rape can bring justice to victims by
increasing their arrest rates by having all rape kits that are
collected in the county tested for evidence of crime.
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5)Set a standard for determining the effectiveness of the pilot
project, specifically that it shall be measured by examining
county statistics submitted to the Attorney General's office
pursuant to existing law that requires the reporting of the
number of forcible rapes committed in that county and the
number of arrests for forcible rape committed in that county.
6)Provide that the pilot project shall be inoperative on July 1,
2015, or the date when all rape kits collected in the
pilot-project counties between July 1, 2012, and December 13,
2014, are counted, whichever comes first.
7)Provides that the DOJ shall be required to test every rape kit
collected by the pilot project during the period of the pilot
project.
8)Establish a sunset date of January 1, 2016.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill mandated law enforcement
agencies responsible for taking or collecting rape kit evidence
to annually report to the Department of Justice (DOJ)
statistical information pertaining to testing and submission of
DNA analysis of rape kits, as specified. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Required each local law enforcement agency responsible for
taking or collecting rape kit evidence to collect the
following information for kits collected on or after January
1, 2012:
a) The total number of rape kits collected during the
preceding calendar year and, of that total, the number of
rape kits for which the identity of the assailant is
unknown;
b) The total number of rape kits tested during the
preceding calendar year and, of that total, the number of
rape kits for which the identity of the assailant is
unknown;
c) The total number of rape kits submitted for DNA analysis
and, of that total, the number of rape kits for which the
identity of the assailant is unknown;
d) The number of rape kits law enforcement submitted for
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DNA analysis that remain untested and, of that, the number
of which the identity of the assailant is unknown; and,
e) The total number of untested rape kits that were not
submitted for DNA analysis in its possession as of January
1 of the reporting year.
2)Provided that law enforcement agencies responsible for taking
or collecting rape kit evidence shall report to the DOJ, by
July 1 of each year, information collected, as specified,
during the preceding year. The initial report, as specified,
shall be made by July 1, 2013. The reports are subject to
inspection under the California Public Records Act, as
specified.
3)Sunsets the provisions of this bill on July 1, 2017.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Fund
Mandated data collection Unknown; potentially
significant state- General
and reporting by local law reimbursable costs
enforcement agencies
DOJ administration $36 $35 $35 Special*
Pilot project rape kit $155 to $310 annually to DOJ
Special*
testing through June 2015
New convictions Unknown; potentially significant
Generalstate incarceration costs of $50 per
year per felony conviction
*DNA Identification Fund
COMMENTS : According to the author, "In 2009 the DOJ reported
8,698 forcible rapes in California. The number of arrests
reported for 2009 was 2,050. This is a statewide arrest rate of
23.6%. Ten years ago in 1999 the arrest rate was 30.6% (2,887
arrests ? 9,443 forcible rapes = 30.6%).
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"As reported on the Attorney General's website: In 2009 there
were 174,579 violent crimes reported. Of these crimes, 8,698 or
5% were forcible rapes. Of the arrests for violent crime
reported in 2009, only 1.7% or 2050 were for forcible rape.
"Statewide the arrest rate for reported forcible rapes in 2009
was only 23.6% (2050 arrests divided by 8,698 rapes reported).
"A decade ago, when New York City began testing every rape kit,
their arrest rate went from 40% to around 70%. If California
made arrests on 70% of the reported forcible rapes, we would
have made an additional 4,038 arrests in 2009.
"As reported in the Los Angeles Times, there were over 10,000
unopened rape kits in Los Angeles County in 2008. �This bill]
seeks to shed light on the problem of untested rape kit evidence
from sexual assaults and help bring rapists to justice.
" 'It's unconscionable that thousands of rape kits remain
unopened and untested across California,' stated Portantino.
'Rape kits hold vital evidence that is crucial to a criminal
conviction, while the clock is ticking on bringing justice to
victims. It's frustrating to know that a rapist could be
walking free and a victim who suffered is further disrespected
because a vital piece of evidence went untested.'
"The Rape, Abuse and Incest Network reports that 1 in 6 women
and 1 in 33 men will be sexually assaulted in their lifetimes,
but only 6% of rapists will ever spend a day in jail. Rape kits
hold potentially crucial information from the crime scene. DNA
evidence from the kits is used to compare samples from known
felons in State and Federal databases. If you don't process the
evidence, you can't check it against the database.
" 'I introduced this bill to protect the women and children in
our communities by making sure that our law enforcement agencies
are doing all they can to provide justice for the victims of
these horrible crimes,' explained Portantino. 'As we've seen
over and over again in news reports, evidence from rape kits
sits untested in police lockers throughout the state. And,
while police and sheriff's departments in Los Angeles have made
strides in processing some 10,000 backlogged kits, this bill
will ensure that in the future, rape kits are opened and
processed in a timely manner.' "
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Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion
of this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Sandy Uribe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744
FN: 0002477