Bill > HR6628

This bill, known as the SAFER Act of 2012, aims to address the backlog of sexual assault evidence by amending the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act of 2000. It introduces provisions for Debbie Smith grants, which are federal funds, to be used by states and local governments for auditing their existing sexual assault evidence backlogs, meaning they will conduct a thorough review of collected samples that have not yet been tested. The bill also establishes a Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence Registry, a database managed by the Department of Justice, where states and local governments can enter information about sexual assault evidence samples that are awaiting testing. This registry will track the status of these samples through the testing and processing stages, though it will exclude personally identifiable information to protect victims' privacy. The bill specifies that a portion of the grant funds must be allocated for these auditing purposes, and it sets conditions for receiving these grants, including submitting a plan for the audit and entering information into the registry within specific timeframes, with exceptions for certain types of evidence. Finally, the bill requires the Attorney General to report to Congress annually on the progress of these efforts, including the number of grants awarded, extensions granted, and the status of untested sexual assault evidence samples.