NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A bill that would enforce the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to test the evidence of a rape kit in 30 days may not happen this year.
HB0104/SB0014 was signed by the speaker and lieutenant governor, but it's been placed behind the budget, meaning lawmakers won't fully consider it until the budget is set. The sponsor of the bill in the House, Rep. Antonio Parkinson, D-Memphis, expressed his frustration that the bill may not receive that funding. The same situation happened to Parkinson in 2014 with the same legislation. Right now, it takes 33 weeks on average to process a kit, according to the TBI.
The Memphis legislator brought it up again this year after the Eliza Fletcher case happened in Memphis, where the person accused of her murder was matched to DNA from an untested rape kit. Parkinson argued Fletcher's life could have been spared had the test been conducted in a timely manner.
The fiscal impact of the bill was listed as not significant. As explained, the impact would total $4.5 million for the 2023-2024 budget.
“I am completely disappointed in the lack of action on the part of the Tennessee legislature to fund getting rape kits tested in 30 days," Parkinson said. "This is an exact repeat of what took place in 2014. Our inaction in 2014, played a part in the death of Eliza Fletcher. This is a slap in the face to all victims of rape in our state. We put $250 million into the rainy day fund, which put us over $2 billion dollars. But we wouldn’t fund $5 million to test rape kits in 30 days. We can do better.”
With a sexual assault kit backlog in the state that is months long, Gov. Bill Lee and his leadership team announced in September they added more forensic staff positions to the TBI. Recurring funding for these additional forensic lab positions will be included in the state’s upcoming fiscal year 2023-2024 budget for those positions with the TBI.
The final budget hasn't been yet approved.
