The House Ways and Means Committee heard HB 1413 on rape kits authored by Rep. Cash and co-authored by Rep. Sweet and Rep. Klinker. The bill does the following:
- establishes the rape kit backlog fund to provide funding for assisting law enforcement agencies and testing labs in eliminating the backlog of untested rape kits;
- requires the state police department to provide grants to law enforcement agencies and testing labs to help eliminate the backlog of untested rape kits and make an annual report to the general assembly; and
- requires that before January 1, 2027, every law enforcement agency and testing lab to process certain rape kits in their possession that are not completely processed as of July 1, 2025.
The bill was amended by consent to make technical corrections and remove the appropriation provision of the bill.
The amended bill passed 22-0.
Read the bill at: https://iga.in.gov/legislative/2025/bills/house/1413