Sec. 420.047. AUDIT OF UNANALYZED EVIDENCE OF SEXUAL ASSAULT OR OTHER SEX OFFENSE. (a) A law enforcement agency in possession of an evidence collection kit that has not been submitted for laboratory analysis shall:

(1) not later than December 15, 2019, submit to the department a list of the agency's active criminal cases for which an evidence collection kit collected on or before September 1, 2019, has not yet been submitted for laboratory analysis;

(2) not later than January 15, 2020, and subject to the availability of laboratory storage space, submit to the department or a public accredited crime laboratory, as appropriate, all evidence collection kits pertaining to those active criminal cases that have not yet been submitted for laboratory analysis; and

(3) if the law enforcement agency submits an evidence collection kit under Subdivision (2) to a laboratory other than a department laboratory, notify the department of:

(A) the laboratory to which the evidence collection kit was sent; and

(B) any analysis completed by the laboratory to which the evidence collection kit was sent and the date on which the analysis was completed.

(b) Not later than September 1, 2020, the department shall submit to the governor and the appropriate standing committees of the senate and the house of representatives a report containing:

(1) a projected timeline for the completion of laboratory analyses, in accordance with this chapter, of all unanalyzed evidence collection kits submitted under Subsection (a)(2);

(2) a request for any necessary funding to accomplish the analyses under Subdivision (1), including a request for a grant of money under Article 102.056(e), Code of Criminal Procedure, if money is available under that subsection;

(3) as appropriate, application materials for requests made as required by Subdivision (2); and

(4) if the department determines that outsourcing certain evidence collection kits is necessary for timely analyses of the kits:

(A) a proposal for determining which evidence collection kits should be outsourced; and

(B) a list of laboratories the department determines are capable of completing the outsourced analyses.

(c) Not later than September 1, 2022, and to the extent that funding is available, the department shall, as provided by Sections 420.042 and 420.043, analyze or contract for the analysis of, and complete the required database comparison, or ensure that a public accredited laboratory completed the comparison, regarding all evidence collection kits submitted to the department under Subsection (a)(2).

(d) Notwithstanding Subsection (c), the department is not required to use under this section in a state fiscal year any amount of money from the state highway fund that exceeds the amount the department has historically used in a state fiscal year to fund laboratory analyses of evidence collection kits under this chapter.

(e) To supplement funding of laboratory analyses under this section, the department may solicit and receive grants, gifts, or donations of money from the federal government or private sources as described by this chapter.

(f) This section expires September 1, 2023.

Added by Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 408 (H.B. 8), Sec. 8, eff. September 1, 2019.