New Law Amends Victims’ Rights and Requires Audit of Untested Sexual Assault Evidence Kits
Press release from the California Attorney General’s Office:
California Attorney General Rob Bonta today issued an information bulletin to all California law enforcement agencies and public crime laboratories, summarizing their new responsibilities under Senate Bill 464 (SB 464). Authored by Senator Aisha Wahab (D-Hayward), SB 464 amends victims’ rights and requires an audit of all untested sexual assault evidence kits. It was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on October 10, 2023, and took effect on January 1, 2024.
“Victims of sexual assault deserve to be supported in both word and deed. Thanks to legislation like SB 464, California is continuing to lead the way,” said Attorney General Bonta. “Our information bulletin aims to remind law enforcement agencies and public crime laboratories of their new obligations under SB 464. As always, my office is available to provide assistance to those who may need it.”
Among other things, the information bulletin outlines the following changes:
- A victim may request that their sexual assault evidence kit not be tested. If such a request is made, a medical facility that collects that kit, and a law enforcement agency that receives it, should not submit the kit collected from that victim to a laboratory. Instead, the kit should be stored at the medical facility or law enforcement agency.
- If a victim or witness to a crime asks to be notified of the case outcome, the prosecuting attorney must notify the victim or witness by letter of the final disposition of the case (i.e., dismissal, acquittal, imposition of sentence by the court, or a decision by the prosecuting attorney not to file the case) within 30 days of such final disposition. Prior to the enactment of SB 464, the deadline was 60 days.
- No later than July 1, 2026, law enforcement agencies and public crime laboratories are required to conduct an audit of untested sexual assault evidence kits in their possession and report specified information to the California Department of Justice (DOJ). To request a copy of a reporting template or assistance with determining whether a kit is subject to the reporting requirement, law enforcement agencies and public crime laboratories are encouraged to contact the DOJ’s Bureau of Forensic Services at [email protected].
Attorney General Bonta is committed to supporting victims of sexual assault. On April 29, 2022, he shared guidance to help survivors of sexual assault access resources. On November 1, 2022, he announced the launch of a new online portal to allow survivors of sexual assault to track the status of their sexual assault evidence kits and the hiring of the state’s first-ever sexual assault evidence outreach coordinator, Dr. Sarai Crain. On April 26, 2024, he highlighted resources available through the DOJ’s Victims’ Services Unit (VSU), and through additional outlets, to support and empower victims, survivors, and their families.
The information bulletin can be found here.
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Untested kits is a nation wide problem.
“ In 2022, at least 25,000 untested rape kits sat in law enforcement agencies and crime labs across the country. This figure only accounts for data reported by 30 states and Washington, DC; the total backlog number is unknown.”
If rape victims were almost always men those kits would have been tested within a day and there’d be no backlog,
The down votes are interesting – untested rape kits aren’t a new problem – this has been going on for years and is a clear example of a male dominated system (most legislators, police officers, DA’s and judges are male) failing to protect women from sexual predators, most of whom are male.
I stand by my comment that if men were the primary victims of sexual violence this problem would have been solved before it began.
vote NO on bonta.
POS he be
Newsom will be trying for the WH this fall……
Vote NO on him too.
The biggest crime is not testing all of these rape kits.
Just imagine how many rapist could have been taken out of our society.
Agree 100%. It is absolutely criminal the kits weren’t tested.
It’s disgusting that every single kit is not tested as soon as humanly possible. This is a place where money should be spent. Victims deserve justice and society deserves protection. Rapists should be removed from society.
Agree 100%. We’ll never know how many serial rapists could have been caught and how many rapes could have been prevented.