BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 322
Page 1
GOVERNOR'S VETO
AB 322 (Portantino)
As Amended August 30, 2011
2/3 vote
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| |61-13|(June 1, 2011) |SENATE: |37-2 |(September 6, |
| | | | | |2011) |
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|ASSEMBLY: | | | | | |
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|ASSEMBLY: |66-10|(September 7, | | | |
| | |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;
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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.
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
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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 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
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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 General state
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%).
"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
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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.' "
Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion of
this bill.
GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE :
This measure would establish a new pilot program and
require the Department of Justice to test all rape kits
collected from 10 specified counties. These counties,
however, don't want to participate in the program.
I don't see why we would mandate counties to participate
in a program they don't want, especially when the state is
cutting back on so many programs that are needed and
wanted.
Local officials are in the best position to determine
whether to participate in such a program.
Analysis Prepared by : Sandy Uribe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744
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