SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A Utah lawmaker’s proposal to require that all evidence kits collected by police after a sexual assault be tested would give law enforcement 30 days to send the rape kits to a crime lab.
The bill from Salt Lake City Democratic Rep. Angela Romero was unveiled Wednesday.
Romero says if the Legislature approves, her law would not take effect until 2018 in order to give the state crime lab time to work through a 1,000-kit backlog.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports (https://bit.ly/2k7F3p6) the plan would cost $1 million to $3 million.
Her proposal has not yet had a hearing.
Some Utah police agencies, citing costs and delays of testing, were not testing all kits if they felt like they couldn’t pursue a case, but advocates in recent years have pushed them to test all kits.
___
Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, https://www.sltrib.com
Please read our comment policy before commenting.