“To improve the processing of samples of sexual assault evidence, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section establishes a publicly accessible online national database of aggregated and anonymized data from state and local inventories or audits of sexual assault evidence collection kits submitted for testing and held by forensic service providers. It requires annual updates and inclusion of estimates of the time each reporting laboratory takes to test a kit.
This section authorizes the Attorney General, acting through the FBI Director, to develop and operate training programs at the FBI laboratory for state and local analysts testing sexual assault evidence samples and for DNA technical leaders, including in-person and remote curricula. It authorizes $5 million annually for fiscal years 2027 through 2031.
This section establishes a validation and technology transfer program under which the FBI laboratory, in partnership with state and local forensic science providers, researches new DNA processing technologies and shares analytical protocols, developmental validation data, and model instrument performance verification plans. It authorizes the FBI Director to publish lists of validated technologies with supporting data and appropriates $10 million annually for fiscal years 2027 through 2031.
This section increases by up to 10 percent the amount of STOP grant funding a state receives under part T of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 beginning in fiscal year 2027 if the state maintains a compliant electronic sexual assault kit tracking system. The system must be a website that informs survivors and their advocates of each stage of kit processing from hospital collection through forensic analysis to final disposition. The increase applies for a 2-year period and may be awarded to a state no more than 4 times. It authorizes $1.5 million annually for fiscal years 2027 through 2031.
This section requires the Attorney General, in collaboration with the Secretaries of Commerce and Health and Human Services, to submit to the Judiciary, Commerce, and HELP committees in the Senate and the Judiciary, Science, and Energy and Commerce committees in the House, and to make publicly available, a report on the status and needs of the forensic science community not later than 1 year after enactment and every 3 years thereafter. The report must examine workloads, backlogs, personnel, equipment, and training needs of state and local crime laboratories, medical examiners, coroners, and toxicology offices; consider the 2019 NIJ needs assessment and other prior federal studies; and include a strategic plan to address identified needs.