Untested Rape Kit Legislation
December 15, 2016 10:57 AM to All House Members
Circulated By
Representative Brandon Neuman
D House District 48
Memo
As you may know, legislation I sponsored last session was signed into law (Act 27 of 2015) by Governor Wolf to amend the Sexual Assault Testing and Evidence Collection Act (Act 165 of 2006) to provide a much-needed methodology for counting rape kits, guidelines for the submission of the kits to be tested, and a three-year timeframe to eliminate the backlog of untested rape kits.
While this legislation has proven to be an excellent first step in addressing the untested rape kit backlog in the commonwealth, the need for more comprehensive measures was uncovered in the Untested Rape Kits special report issued by Auditor General Eugene DePasquale in September 2016.
As a result, I plan to introduce legislation incorporating several of the recommendations outlined in this report, including:
- Establish a commission of local and state agencies to annually review funding needs and improve communications
- Establish a hotline for hospitals to call if a rape kit is not picked up within 72 hours
- Clarify ambiguous language such as “as soon as practical”
We took a significant step last session by passing the legislation that eventually became Act 27 of 2015. Please join me in bolstering this effort to protect our constituents and help law enforcement address this issue by cosponsoring this important measure.
Legislation
Document - Introduced as HB 1821
Last updated on December 15, 2016 10:59 AM
Untested Rape Kit Legislation
December 15, 2016 10:57 AM to All House Members
Circulated By
NEUMAN
Memo
As you may know, legislation I sponsored last session was signed into law (Act 27 of 2015) by Governor Wolf to amend the Sexual Assault Testing and Evidence Collection Act (Act 165 of 2006) to provide a much-needed methodology for counting rape kits, guidelines for the submission of the kits to be tested, and a three-year timeframe to eliminate the backlog of untested rape kits.
While this legislation has proven to be an excellent first step in addressing the untested rape kit backlog in the commonwealth, the need for more comprehensive measures was uncovered in the Untested Rape Kits special report issued by Auditor General Eugene DePasquale in September 2016.
As a result, I plan to introduce legislation incorporating several of the recommendations outlined in this report, including:
- Establish a commission of local and state agencies to annually review funding needs and improve communications
- Establish a hotline for hospitals to call if a rape kit is not picked up within 72 hours
- Clarify ambiguous language such as “as soon as practical”
We took a significant step last session by passing the legislation that eventually became Act 27 of 2015. Please join me in bolstering this effort to protect our constituents and help law enforcement address this issue by cosponsoring this important measure.
Document
Introduced as HB 1821
Last Updated
December 15, 2016 10:59 AM
Generated 03/23/2025 09:47 AM