TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A Senate panel Thursday unanimously approved a bill that would speed up DNA testing in suspected rape cases, following revelations that thousands of evidence kits remain untested statewide.
The Senate Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Subcommittee approved the measure (SB 636), filed by Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Fort Myers.
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The bill would establish time limits for local agencies to submit sexual assault kits to Florida Department of Law Enforcement crime labs for forensic testing.
The vote came after a report earlier this year showed the state has more than 13,000 untested rape kits.
Benacquisto's bill would require any evidence collected in rape investigations to be submitted for testing within 30 days of being received by law-enforcement agencies or after notification by victims or victims' representatives that they wish the evidence to be tested.
Testing of rape kits would have to be completed within 120 days. Testing DNA evidence can help law enforcement agencies catch rapists and prevent future rapes, but Florida does not require kits to be submitted for testing.
That decision has rested with local law-enforcement agencies.
The Senate bill has cleared two committees and faces one more, as does its House companion (HB 179), filed by Rep. Janet Adkins, R-Fernandina Beach.