Report 2014-109 Recommendation Responses

Report 2014-109: Sexual Assault Evidence Kits: Although Testing All Kits Could Benefit Sexual Assault Investigations, the Extent of the Benefits Is Unknown (Release Date: October 2014)

Recommendation for Legislative Action

To establish more comprehensive information about sexual assault evidence kits, specifically the number of kits collected and the number of kits analyzed across the State, the Legislature should direct law enforcement agencies to report to Justice annually how many sexual assault evidence kits they collect and how many kits they analyze each year. The Legislature should also require an annual report from Justice that details this information.

Description of Legislative Action

Assembly Bill 41 (Chiu, Chapter 694, Statutes of 2017) requires law enforcement agencies to report information regarding rape kit evidence, within 120 days of the collection of the kit, to the Department of Justice (Justice) through a database established by Justice. This statute also requires Justice to file a report to the Legislature on an annual basis summarizing the information in its database.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Legislation Enacted


Description of Legislative Action

Assembly Bill 909 would have required a law enforcement agency responsible for taking or processing rape kit evidence to annually report, by July 1 of each year, to the Department of Justice information pertaining to the processing of rape kits, including the number of rape kits the law enforcement agency collects, the number of those rape kits that are tested, and the number of those rape kits that are not tested. For those rape kits that are not tested, the bill would have required the law enforcement agency to also report the reason the rape kit was not tested. This bill died in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Legislation Proposed But Not Enacted


Description of Legislative Action

Assembly Bill 909 would have required a law enforcement agency responsible for taking or processing rape kit evidence to annually report, by July 1 of each year, to the Department of Justice information pertaining to the processing of rape kits, including the number of rape kits the law enforcement agency collects, the number of those rape kits that are tested, and the number of those rape kits that are not tested. For those rape kits that are not tested, the bill would have required the law enforcement agency to also report the reason the rape kit was not tested. This bill died in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Legislation Proposed But Not Enacted


Description of Legislative Action

AB 909 would have required a law enforcement agency responsible for taking or processing rape kit evidence to annually report, by July 1 of each year, to the Department of Justice information pertaining to the processing of rape kits, including the number of rape kits the law enforcement agency collects, the number of those rape kits that are tested, and the number of those rape kits that are not tested. For those rape kits that are not tested, the bill would have required the law enforcement agency to also report the reason the rape kit was not tested.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Legislation Proposed But Not Enacted


Description of Legislative Action

Legislation has not been introduced to address this specific recommendation

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: No Action Taken


All Recommendations in 2014-109