112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3250 

AN ACT 

To amend the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act of 

2000 to provide for Debbie Smith grants for auditing 

sexual assault evidence backlogs and to establish a Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence Registry, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sexual Assault Foren3 sic Evidence Reporting Act of 2012’’ or the ‘‘SAFER Act 

4 of 2012’’. 

5 SEC. 2. DEBBIE SMITH GRANTS FOR AUDITING SEXUAL AS6 SAULT EVIDENCE BACKLOGS. 

7 Section 2 of the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination 

8 Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 14135) is amended— 

9 (1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the 

10 following new paragraph: 

11 ‘‘(6) To conduct an audit consistent with sub12 section (n) of the samples of sexual assault evidence 

13 that are in the possession of the State or unit of 

14 local government and are awaiting testing. 

15 ‘‘(7) To ensure that the collection and proc16 essing of DNA evidence by law enforcement agencies 

17 from crimes, including sexual assault and other vio18 lent crimes against persons, is carried out in an ap19 propriate and timely manner and in accordance with 

20 the protocols and practices developed under sub21 section (o)(1).’’; 

22 (2) in subsection (c), by adding at the end the 

23 following new paragraph: 

24 ‘‘(4) ALLOCATION OF GRANT AWARDS FOR AU25 DITS.—For each of fiscal years 2014 through 2017, 

26 not less than 5 percent, but not more than 7 per-
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1 cent, of the grant amounts distributed under para2 graph (1) shall, if sufficient applications to justify 

3 such amounts are received by the Attorney General, 

4 be awarded for purposes described in subsection 

5 (a)(6), provided that none of the funds required to 

6 be distributed under this paragraph shall decrease or 

7 otherwise limit the availability of funds required to 

8 be awarded to States or units of local government 

9 under paragraph (3).’’; and 

10 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub11 sections: 

12 ‘‘(n) USE OF FUNDS FOR AUDITING SEXUAL AS13 SAULT EVIDENCE BACKLOGS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBILITY.—The Attorney General may 

15 award a grant under this section to a State or unit 

16 of local government for the purpose described in 

17 subsection (a)(6) only if the State or unit of local 

18 government— 

19 ‘‘(A) submits a plan for performing the 

20 audit of samples described in such subsection; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(B) includes in such plan a good-faith es23 timate of the number of such samples. 
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1 ‘‘(2) GRANT CONDITIONS.—A State or unit of 

2 local government receiving a grant for the purpose 

3 described in subsection (a)(6)— 

4 ‘‘(A) may not enter into any contract or 

5 agreement with any non-governmental vendor 

6 laboratory to conduct an audit described in sub7 section (a)(6); and 

8 ‘‘(B) shall— 

9 ‘‘(i) not later than 1 year after receiv10 ing the grant, complete the audit referred 

11 to in paragraph (1)(A) in accordance with 

12 the plan submitted under such paragraph; 

13 ‘‘(ii) not later than 60 days after re14 ceiving possession of a sample of sexual as15 sault evidence that was not in the posses16 sion of the State or unit of local govern17 ment at the time of the initiation of an 

18 audit under paragraph (1)(A), subject to 

19 paragraph (4)(F), include in any required 

20 reports under clause (v), the information 

21 listed under paragraph (4)(B); 

22 ‘‘(iii) for each sample of sexual as23 sault evidence that is identified as awaiting 

24 testing as part of the audit referred to in 

25 paragraph (1)(A)— 
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1 ‘‘(I) assign a unique numeric or 

2 alphanumeric identifier to each sam3 ple of sexual assault evidence that is 

4 in the possession of the State or unit 

5 of local government and is awaiting 

6 testing; and 

7 ‘‘(II) identify the date or dates 

8 after which the State or unit of local 

9 government would be barred by any 

10 applicable statutes of limitations from 

11 prosecuting a perpetrator of the sex12 ual assault to which the sample re13 lates; 

14 ‘‘(iv) provide that— 

15 ‘‘(I) the chief law enforcement of16 ficer of the State or unit of local gov17 ernment, respectively, is the individual 

18 responsible for the compliance of the 

19 State or unit of local government, re20 spectively, with the reporting require21 ments described in clause (v); or 

22 ‘‘(II) the designee of such officer 

23 may fulfill the responsibility described 

24 in subclause (I) so long as such des25 ignee is an employee of the State or 
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1 unit of local government, respectively, 

2 and is not an employee of any govern3 mental laboratory or non-govern4 mental vendor laboratory; and 

5 ‘‘(v) comply with all grantee reporting 

6 requirements described in paragraph (4). 

7 ‘‘(3) EXTENSION OF INITIAL DEADLINE.—The 

8 Attorney General may grant an extension of the 

9 deadline under paragraph (2)(B)(i) to a State or 

10 unit of local government that demonstrates that 

11 more time is required for compliance with such para12 graph. 

13 ‘‘(4) SEXUAL ASSAULT FORENSIC EVIDENCE

14 REPORTS.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For not less than 12 

16 months after the completion of an initial count 

17 of sexual assault evidence that is awaiting test18 ing during an audit referred to in paragraph 

19 (1)(A), a State or unit of local government that 

20 receives a grant award under subsection (a)(6) 

21 shall, not less than every 60 days, submit a re22 port to the Department of Justice, on a form 

23 prescribed by the Attorney General, which shall 

24 contain the information required under sub25 paragraph (B). 
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1 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS OF REPORTS.—A report 

2 under this paragraph shall contain the following 

3 information: 

4 ‘‘(i) The name of the State or unit of 

5 local government filing the report. 

6 ‘‘(ii) The period of dates covered by 

7 the report. 

8 ‘‘(iii) The cumulative total number of 

9 samples of sexual assault evidence that, at 

10 the end of the reporting period— 

11 ‘‘(I) are in the possession of the 

12 State or unit of local government at 

13 the reporting period; 

14 ‘‘(II) are awaiting testing; and 

15 ‘‘(III) the State or unit of local 

16 government has determined should 

17 undergo DNA or other appropriate fo18 rensic analyses. 

19 ‘‘(iv) The cumulative total number of 

20 samples of sexual assault evidence in the 

21 possession of the State or unit of local gov22 ernment that, at the end of the reporting 

23 period, the State or unit of local govern24 ment has determined should not undergo 

25 DNA or other appropriate forensic anal-
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1 yses, provided that the reporting form shall 

2 allow for the State or unit of local govern3 ment, at its sole discretion, to explain the 

4 reasoning for this determination in some 

5 or all cases. 

6 ‘‘(v) The cumulative total number of 

7 samples of sexual assault evidence in a 

8 total under clause (iii) that have been sub9 mitted to a laboratory for DNA or other 

10 appropriate forensic analyses. 

11 ‘‘(vi) The cumulative total number of 

12 samples of sexual assault evidence identi13 fied by an audit referred to in paragraph 

14 (1)(A) or under paragraph (2)(B)(ii) for 

15 which DNA or other appropriate forensic 

16 analysis has been completed at the end of 

17 the reporting period. 

18 ‘‘(vii) The total number of samples of 

19 sexual assault evidence identified by the 

20 State or unit of local government under 

21 paragraph (2)(B)(ii), since the previous re22 porting period. 

23 ‘‘(viii) The cumulative total number of 

24 samples of sexual assault evidence de25 scribed under clause (iii) for which the 
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1 State or unit of local government will be 

2 barred within 12 months by any applicable 

3 statute of limitations from prosecuting a 

4 perpetrator of the sexual assault to which 

5 the sample relates. 

6 ‘‘(C) PUBLICATION OF REPORTS.—Not 

7 later than 7 days after the submission of a re8 port under this paragraph by a State or unit of 

9 local government, the Attorney General shall, 

10 subject to subparagraph (D), publish and dis11 seminate a facsimile of the full contents of such 

12 report on an appropriate internet website. 

13 ‘‘(D) PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFOR14 MATION.—The Attorney General shall ensure 

15 that any information published and dissemi16 nated as part of a report under this paragraph, 

17 which reports information under this sub18 section, does not include personally identifiable 

19 information or details about a sexual assault 

20 that might lead to the identification of the indi21 viduals involved. 

22 ‘‘(E) OPTIONAL REPORTING.—The Attor23 ney General shall— 

24 ‘‘(i) at the discretion of a State or 

25 unit of local government required to file a 
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1 report under subparagraph (A), allow such 

2 State or unit of local government, at their 

3 sole discretion, to submit such reports on 

4 a more frequent basis; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) make available to all States and 

6 units of local government the reporting 

7 form created pursuant to subparagraph 

8 (A), whether or not they are required to 

9 submit such reports, and allow such States 

10 or units of local government, at their sole 

11 discretion, to submit such reports for pub12 lication. 

13 ‘‘(F) SAMPLES EXEMPT FROM REPORTING

14 REQUIREMENT.—The reporting requirements 

15 described in paragraph (2) shall not apply to a 

16 sample of sexual assault evidence that— 

17 ‘‘(i) is not considered criminal evi18 dence (such as a sample collected anony19 mously from a victim who is unwilling to 

20 make a criminal complaint); or 

21 ‘‘(ii) relates to a sexual assault for 

22 which the prosecution of each perpetrator 

23 is barred by a statute of limitations. 

24 ‘‘(5) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 
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1 ‘‘(A) AWAITING TESTING.—The term 

2 ‘awaiting testing’ means, with respect to a sam3 ple of sexual assault evidence, that— 

4 ‘‘(i) the sample has been collected and 

5 is in the possession of a State or unit of 

6 local government; 

7 ‘‘(ii) DNA and other appropriate fo8 rensic analyses have not been performed on 

9 such sample; and 

10 ‘‘(iii) the sample is related to a crimi11 nal case or investigation in which final dis12 position has not yet been reached. 

13 ‘‘(B) FINAL DISPOSITION.—The term ‘final 

14 disposition’ means, with respect to a criminal 

15 case or investigation to which a sample of sex16 ual assault evidence relates— 

17 ‘‘(i) the conviction or acquittal of all 

18 suspected perpetrators of the crime in19 volved; 

20 ‘‘(ii) a determination by the State or 

21 unit of local government in possession of 

22 the sample that the case is unfounded; or 

23 ‘‘(iii) a declaration by the victim of 

24 the crime involved that the act constituting 

25 the basis of the crime was not committed. 
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1 ‘‘(C) POSSESSION.— 

2 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘posses3 sion’, used with respect to possession of a 

4 sample of sexual assault evidence by a 

5 State or unit of local government, includes 

6 possession by an individual who is acting 

7 as an agent of the State or unit of local 

8 government for the collection of the sam9 ple. 

10 ‘‘(ii) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.— 

11 Nothing in clause (i) shall be construed to 

12 create or amend any Federal rights or 

13 privileges for non-governmental vendor lab14 oratories described in regulations promul15 gated under section 210303 of the DNA 

16 Identification Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 

17 14131). 

18 ‘‘(o) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROTOCOLS, TECHNICAL

19 ASSISTANCE, AND DEFINITIONS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) PROTOCOLS AND PRACTICES.—Not later 

21 than 18 months after the date of enactment of the 

22 SAFER Act of 2012, the Director, in consultation 

23 with Federal, State, and local law enforcement agen24 cies and government laboratories, shall develop and 

25 publish a description of protocols and practices the 
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1 Director considers appropriate for the accurate, 

2 timely, and effective collection and processing of 

3 DNA evidence, including protocols and practices spe4 cific to sexual assault cases, which shall address ap5 propriate steps in the investigation of cases that 

6 might involve DNA evidence, including— 

7 ‘‘(A) how to determine— 

8 ‘‘(i) which evidence is to be collected 

9 by law enforcement personnel and for10 warded for testing; 

11 ‘‘(ii) the preferred order in which evi12 dence from the same case is to be tested; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(iii) what information to take into 

15 account when establishing the order in 

16 which evidence from different cases is to be 

17 tested; 

18 ‘‘(B) the establishment of a reasonable pe19 riod of time in which evidence is to be for20 warded by emergency response providers, law 

21 enforcement personnel, and prosecutors to a 

22 laboratory for testing; 

23 ‘‘(C) the establishment of reasonable peri24 ods of time in which each stage of analytical 

25 laboratory testing is to be completed; 
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1 ‘‘(D) systems to encourage communication 

2 within a State or unit of local government 

3 among emergency response providers, law en4 forcement personnel, prosecutors, courts, de5 fense counsel, crime laboratory personnel, and 

6 crime victims regarding the status of crime 

7 scene evidence to be tested; and 

8 ‘‘(E) standards for conducting the audit of 

9 the backlog for DNA case work in sexual as10 sault cases required under subsection (n). 

11 ‘‘(2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING.— 

12 The Director shall make available technical assist13 ance and training to support States and units of 

14 local government in adopting and implementing the 

15 protocols and practices developed under paragraph 

16 (1) on and after the date on which the protocols and 

17 practices are published. 

18 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the 

19 terms ‘awaiting testing’ and ‘possession’ have the 

20 meanings given those terms in subsection (n).’’. 

21 SEC. 3. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 

22 Not later than 90 days after the end of each fiscal 

23 year for which a grant is made for the purpose described 

24 in section 2(a)(6) of the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimi-
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1 nation Act of 2000, as amended by section 2, the Attorney 

2 General shall submit to Congress a report that— 

3 (1) lists the States and units of local govern4 ment that have been awarded such grants and the 

5 amount of the grant received by each such State or 

6 unit of local government; 

7 (2) states the number of extensions granted by 

8 the Attorney General under section 2(n)(3) of the 

9 DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act of 2000, as 

10 added by section 2; and 

11 (3) summarizes the processing status of the 

12 samples of sexual assault evidence identified in Sex13 ual Assault Forensic Evidence Reports established 

14 under section 2(o)(4) of the DNA Analysis Backlog 

15 Act of 2000, including the number of samples that 

16 have not been tested. 

17 SEC. 4. REDUCING THE RAPE KIT BACKLOG. 

18 Section 2(c)(3) of the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimi19 nation Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 14135(c)(3)) is amended— 

20 (a) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘2014’’ and in21 serting ‘‘2018’’; and 

22 (b) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(3) For each of fiscal years 2014 through 

24 2018, not less than 75 percent of the total grant 

25 amounts shall be awarded for a combination of pur-
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1 poses under paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of sub2 section (a).’’. 

3 SEC. 5. OVERSIGHT AND ACCOUNTABILITY. 

4 All grants awarded by the Department of Justice that 

5 are authorized under this Act shall be subject to the fol6 lowing: 

7 (1) AUDIT REQUIREMENT.—Beginning in fiscal 

8 year 2013, and each fiscal year thereafter, the In9 spector General of the Department of Justice shall 

10 conduct audits of recipients of grants under this Act 

11 to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse of funds by 

12 grantees. The Inspector General shall determine the 

13 appropriate number of grantees to be audited each 

14 year. 

15 (2) MANDATORY EXCLUSION.—A recipient of 

16 grant funds under this Act that is found to have an 

17 unresolved audit finding shall not be eligible to re18 ceive grant funds under this Act during the 2 fiscal 

19 years beginning after the 12-month period described 

20 in paragraph (5). 

21 (3) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this 

22 Act, the Attorney General shall give priority to eligi23 ble entities that, during the 3 fiscal years before 

24 submitting an application for a grant under this Act, 

25 did not have an unresolved audit finding showing a 
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1 violation in the terms or conditions of a Department 

2 of Justice grant program. 

3 (4) REIMBURSEMENT.—If an entity is awarded 

4 grant funds under this Act during the 2-fiscal-year 

5 period in which the entity is barred from receiving 

6 grants under paragraph (2), the Attorney General 

7 shall— 

8 (A) deposit an amount equal to the grant 

9 funds that were improperly awarded to the 

10 grantee into the General Fund of the Treasury; 

11 and 

12 (B) seek to recoup the costs of the repay13 ment to the fund from the grant recipient that 

14 was erroneously awarded grant funds. 

15 (5) DEFINED TERM.—In this section, the term 

16 ‘‘unresolved audit finding’’ means an audit report 

17 finding in the final audit report of the Inspector 

18 General of the Department of Justice that the 

19 grantee has utilized grant funds for an unauthorized 

20 expenditure or otherwise unallowable cost that is not 

21 closed or resolved within a 12-month period begin22 ning on the date when the final audit report is 

23 issued. 

24 (6) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION REQUIRE25 MENTS.— 
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1 (A) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this 

2 section and the grant programs described in 

3 this Act, the term ‘‘ ‘nonprofit organization’ ’’ 

4 means an organization that is described in sec5 tion 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

6 1986 and is exempt from taxation under section 

7 501(a) of such Code. 

8 (B) PROHIBITION.—The Attorney General 

9 shall not award a grant under any grant pro10 gram described in this Act to a nonprofit orga11 nization that holds money in offshore accounts 

12 for the purpose of avoiding paying the tax de13 scribed in section 511(a) of the Internal Rev14 enue Code of 1986. 

15 (C) DISCLOSURE.—Each nonprofit organi16 zation that is awarded a grant under a grant 

17 program described in this Act and uses the pro18 cedures prescribed in regulations to create a re19 buttable presumption of reasonableness for the 

20 compensation of its officers, directors, trustees 

21 and key employees, shall disclose to the Attor22 ney General, in the application for the grant, 

23 the process for determining such compensation, 

24 including the independent persons involved in 

25 reviewing and approving such compensation, the 
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1 comparability data used, and contemporaneous 

2 substantiation of the deliberation and decision. 

3 Upon request, the Attorney General shall make 

4 the information disclosed under this subsection 

5 available for public inspection. 

6 (7) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Unless oth7 erwise explicitly provided in authorizing legislation, 

8 not more than 7.5 percent of the amounts author9 ized to be appropriated under this Act may be used 

10 by the Attorney General for salaries and administra11 tive expenses of the Department of Justice. 

12 (8) CONFERENCE EXPENDITURES.— 

13 (A) LIMITATION.—No amounts authorized 

14 to be appropriated to the Department of Justice 

15 under this Act may be used by the Attorney 

16 General or by any individual or organization 

17 awarded discretionary funds through a coopera18 tive agreement under this Act, to host or sup19 port any expenditure for conferences that uses 

20 more than $20,000 in Department funds, un21 less the Deputy Attorney General or the appro22 priate Assistant Attorney General, Director, or 

23 principal deputy as the Deputy Attorney Gen24 eral may designate, provides prior written au-
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1 thorization that the funds may be expended to 

2 host a conference. 

3 (B) WRITTEN APPROVAL.—Written ap4 proval under subparagraph (A) shall include a 

5 written estimate of all costs associated with the 

6 conference, including the cost of all food and 

7 beverages, audio/visual equipment, honoraria 

8 for speakers, and any entertainment. 

9 (C) REPORT.—The Deputy Attorney Gen10 eral shall submit an annual report to the Com11 mittee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the 

12 Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 

13 Representatives on all conference expenditures 

14 approved by operation of this paragraph. 

15 (9) PROHIBITION ON LOBBYING ACTIVITY.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—Amounts authorized to 

17 be appropriated under this Act may not be uti18 lized by any grant recipient to— 

19 (i) lobby any representative of the De20 partment of Justice regarding the award of 

21 grant funding; or 

22 (ii) lobby any representative of a Fed23 eral, state, local, or tribal government re24 garding the award of grant funding. 
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1 (B) PENALTY.—If the Attorney General 

2 determines that any recipient of a grant under 

3 this Act has violated subparagraph (A), the At4 torney General shall— 

5 (i) require the grant recipient to repay 

6 the grant in full; and 

7 (ii) prohibit the grant recipient from 

8 receiving another grant under this Act for 

9 not less than 5 years. 

10 SEC. 6. SUNSET. 

11 Effective on December 31, 2018, subsections (a)(6) 

12 and (n) of section 2 of the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimi13 nation Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 14135(a)(6) and (n)) are 

14 repealed. 

Passed the Senate December 30, 2012. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 
112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3250 

AN ACT 

To amend the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination 

Registry, and for other purposes. to establish a Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence for auditing sexual assault evidence backlogs and Act of 2000 to provide for Debbie Smith grants