Published: May 23, 2023
By: Allison Allsop and Jenna Bridges, LSU Manship School News Service
Sen. Beth Mizell wants to require criminal justice officials to track rape kits more closely.
BATON ROUGE, La. — A House committee passed a bill Monday that would require the state to create a sexual assault collection kit tracking system.
The system would indicate the location and status of rape kits throughout the stages of the criminal justice process.
Sen. Beth Mizell, R-Franklinton, presented Senate Bill 169, saying it would put Louisiana on the same level as 40 other states who have similar programs. Mizell placed a rape kit in front of her as she presented the bill.
“We are outliers, as we are in many things, but we are outliers in the way we handle rape kits and sexual assaults from that point,” Mizell said about tracking the kits.
Meanwhile, in another part of the Capitol, the Senate Finance Committee was hearing from domestic violence shelters about their lack of funding.
Read more at KATC
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