PRINTER'S NO. 698
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE RESOLUTION
No.
75
Session of
2017
INTRODUCED BY MENSCH, BROWNE, BOSCOLA, BREWSTER, EICHELBERGER,
SABATINA, FONTANA, AUMENT, RAFFERTY, COSTA, VULAKOVICH,
TARTAGLIONE AND VOGEL, APRIL 13, 2017
REFERRED TO LAW AND JUSTICE, APRIL 13, 2017
A RESOLUTION
Directing the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to
conduct a study of the extent to which rape kits remain
unprocessed in this Commonwealth and identify the reasons
that the kits remain untested.
WHEREAS, The Pennsylvania Department of Health recently
reported that more than 3,000 rape kits are awaiting testing at
law enforcement agencies and crime labs in this Commonwealth,
including more than 1,800 rape kits that have been waiting 12
months or longer to be tested; and
WHEREAS, Act 27 of 2015 provided a methodology for local law
enforcement agencies to count the backlog of rape kits and
established a three-year time frame to eliminate this backlog;
and
WHEREAS, Certain legal requirements imposed by Act 27 of
2015, including that victims provide written consent prior to
rape kits being tested, that rape kits be picked up by a local
law enforcement agency within 72 hours of being collected and
that victims receive notification when a kit has been tested, do
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not appear to be uniformly followed by all local law enforcement
agencies within this Commonwealth; and
WHEREAS, Studies show that rapists tend to be serial
criminals, thus increasing the urgency that rape kits be
processed in a timely manner so the DNA information can be
promptly entered into the Federal Bureau of Investigation's DNA
database; and
WHEREAS, The Office of the Auditor General recently released
an audit identifying many of these and other problems and making
recommendations to address these issues; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the Senate direct the Legislative Budget and
Finance Committee to conduct a study of the extent to which rape
kits remain unprocessed in this Commonwealth and identify the
reasons that the kits remain untested; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee
identify all possible sources of funding, including all
available Federal funding, that could be used to expedite the
processing of untested rape kits; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee
assess the likelihood that local law enforcement agencies and
crime labs in this Commonwealth will be able to meet the
deadlines established in Act 27 of 2015 for eliminating the
backlog of untested rape kits; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee
assess compliance with the victim consent, victim notification,
reporting and other requirements established by Act 27 of 2015
with regard to the processing of rape kits; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee
report its findings to the General Assembly within 180 days of
the adoption of this resolution.
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