By: Flores, Blanco S.B. No. 608
Menéndez
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to reporting information regarding certain evidence
collection kits.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 420.034, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (h) and adding Subsection (i) to read as
follows:
(h) Not later than December 1 of each year, the department
shall submit a report to the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker
of the house of representatives, and members of the legislature
identifying the number of evidence collection kits:
(1) that have not yet been submitted for laboratory
analysis or for which the laboratory analysis has not yet been
completed, as applicable; and
(2) that a law enforcement agency did not take
possession of within the period required by Section 420.035(b) or
(c), as applicable.
(i) The annual report required by Subsection (h) must be
titled "Statewide Electronic Tracking System Report" and must be
posted on the department's publicly accessible Internet website.
SECTION 2. Section 351.257, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 351.257. REPORT. Not later than December 1 of each
odd-numbered year, a response team shall provide to the
commissioners court of each county the response team serves a
report that includes:
(1) a list of response team members able to
participate in the quarterly meetings required by Section
351.254(c);
(2) a copy of the written protocol developed under
Section 351.256; and
(3) either:
(A) a biennial summary detailing:
(i) the number of sexual assault reports
received by local law enforcement agencies;
(ii) the number of investigations conducted
as a result of those reports;
(iii) the number of indictments presented
in connection with a report and the disposition of those cases;
[and]
(iv) the number of reports of sexual
assault for which no indictment was presented; and
(v) the number of evidence collection kits
described by Section 420.031, Government Code, that a law
enforcement agency did not take possession of within the period
required by Section 420.035(b) or (c), Government Code, as
applicable; or
(B) an explanation of the reason the response
team failed to provide the information described by Paragraph (A).
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.