Emails, Christopher Kaiser, staff attorney, Texas Association Against Sexual Assault, Oct. 15, 2014

From: Christopher Kaiser

Sent: Wednesday, October 15, 2014 1:18 PM

To: Rose Luna; Selby, Gardner (CMG-Austin)

Subject: RE: Urgent inquiry for a fact check

Mr. Selby,

The 2013 budget did contain an appropriation of $11 million to DPS to aid in testing sexual assault forensic evidence kits.

This was to enable implementation of SB 1636, which was enacted by the 82nd Legislature. In its first biennium on the books, SB 1636 basically required law enforcement agencies to analyze the scope of their backlogs of untested kits and set timeframes for eliminating the backlogs. By 2013, that phase of implementation was over, and there was a need for an appropriation to move forward with testing.

I hope this information is helpful. Please feel free to contact me if we can assist you further.

Sincerely,

Christopher Kaiser

Staff Attorney

Texas Association Against Sexual Assault

1:42 p.m.

One caveat I should have mentioned earlier, to help you put the accuracy of the ad’s claim in context: The timeframe for the budget process is lengthy, and therefore little or none of that $11 million appropriated last session has yet been spent on analysis. My understanding DPS has just gotten through the process of identifying which private labs it will contract with, and not all of the 20,000 or so kits will be tested at once. After they’re tested, DPS will have to verify the results, and then release the results back to local law enforcement agencies for review and potential criminal investigation.

All that is to say, it’s reasonable to assume that out of all those kits there will be some investigations and prosecutions resulting from DNA hits. However, we’re talking about fairly long-term effects of the 82nd Legislature’s funding, not immediate analysis that is helping to scoop offenders off the streets today.

Chris