Committee backs HB 2581 to expand statewide sexual‑assault kit tracking and victim portal

The Arizona House Judiciary Committee on a voice vote returned House Bill 2581 with a due‑pass recommendation after members heard testimony about long testing delays and uneven participation in the statewide kit‑tracking system.

Supporters told the committee the bill would require all relevant agencies to use the Track It system already in use across most of Arizona and would give survivors a cloud‑based victim portal to check the status and location of their sexual‑assault evidence kit.

The measure drew testimony from a state legislative staffer, advocacy groups and the Phoenix Police Department. Noah Brunton Osborne, a House majority policy intern, opened the discussion by saying HB 2581 “mandates the department of public safety to create a statewide assault kit evidence tracking system.”

Jenna Panas, chief executive officer of the Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence, told lawmakers about a survivor who "received a forensic medical exam and then waited for over 18 months for the result of that exam," and said the delay prolonged trauma while denying survivors timely information. Panas said the Track It victim portal used elsewhere in the state assigns a barcode and lets survivors access kit status any time, rather than requiring them to contact an often‑unavailable detective.

Elsie Borges, appearing for the Phoenix Police Department, said Phoenix developed its own tracking system before the statewide system launched in 2016 and therefore did not join Track It. Borges said Phoenix did not have a backlog before the COVID‑19 pandemic but that staff cuts reduced the department’s DNA team from about 28 full‑time staff to four or five after COVID, hampering testing; the department has since hired 10 new DNA testers but said those hires require roughly two to three years of training to be fully certified.

Burju Sarolu, policy and advocacy manager at the Joyful Heart Foundation, said the foundation has made ending kit backlogs a priority and urged equal access across ZIP codes: "Every single sexual‑assault kit represents a survivor who after what's likely the worst experience in their life chose to get evidence collected from their body," Sarolu said, adding survivors "feel strongly that the information about their kit belongs to them." Sarolu said the Phoenix jurisdiction — the largest in the state by reported assaults — does not participate in the statewide portal and that kit testing timelines in Phoenix can exceed a year.

Committee members asked questions about the victim portal, the public‑health and public‑safety implications of delayed testing, and the staffing and training timeline for laboratory personnel. No speaker opposed the bill during the hearing.

After testimony, the committee moved the measure forward. A roll call recorded ayes from Representative Bliss; Representative Contreras; Representative Garcia; Representative Hernandez; Representative Collin; Representative Marshall; Representative Wei; Vice Chairman Powell; Chairman Winn noted the tally and the clerk announced the result as one absent and eight yeses. The committee returned HB 2581 with a due‑pass recommendation.

The bill would standardize kit tracking statewide and mandate participation by jurisdictions that currently use separate systems. Supporters said the change would increase accountability and let survivors access kit status through the Track It victim portal; Phoenix officials said staffing and training constraints contributed to delays and described continuing work to align systems and capacity.