2025 Texas sessionsRegular and both called sessions have ended. This index covers House and Senate bills, not resolutions. Statuses come from official reports.

2025 · Regular session · Senate bill

SB608

SB608 requires state and local reports to count sexual-assault evidence kits that law enforcement did not collect within the existing legal deadlines.

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Official caption: Relating to reporting information regarding certain evidence collection kits.

Signed by governorSource-checked explanation published

Official report lists Senate author(s): Flores. This does not identify sponsors or amendment drafters.

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Bill explanation published · Version and amendment review scope is stated below · Individual amendment records may not be separately annotated.

Bill highlights

Selected points from the published explanation. Follow each point to its source-linked context; conditions and limits may matter.

SB608 requires state and local reports to count sexual-assault evidence kits that law enforcement did not collect within the existing legal deadlines.
Local sexual-assault response teams must add the missed-pickup count to the biennial summary in their report to each county commissioners court they serve.
The underlying pickup rule already requires law enforcement to take possession within seven days after receiving the medical facility’s notice, or fourteen days when the notifying facility is more than 100 miles away.

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What does it do?

SB608 requires state and local reports to count sexual-assault evidence kits that law enforcement did not collect within the existing legal deadlines. The Department of Public Safety’s annual report must add this count alongside the existing counts of kits not submitted for laboratory analysis or still awaiting completed analysis. The report is due December 1 each year to state leaders and legislators and remains publicly posted as the “Statewide Electronic Tracking System Report.” Final law, Section 1.

Local sexual-assault response teams must add the missed-pickup count to the biennial summary in their report to each county commissioners court they serve. That report is due December 1 of each odd-numbered year. The existing alternative remains: a team that fails to supply the summary information must explain why. This local report is not newly made annual. Section 2.

The underlying pickup rule already requires law enforcement to take possession within seven days after receiving the medical facility’s notice, or fourteen days when the notifying facility is more than 100 miles away. That notice follows receipt of the required signed release consent. SB608 does not change those clocks, create a new testing deadline, or make individual tracking records public; the existing confidentiality provisions remain. Signed May 14, 2025, it took effect September 1, 2025. Existing pickup and notice rules; Existing tracking confidentiality and annual report; Effective date; History.

What changed along the way?

The introduced, Senate committee, engrossed, House committee and enrolled texts have the same operative provisions. Both committees reported the bill without amendments, and the official amendment index lists none. There was no floor or conference rewrite. Introduced text; All five versions; Amendment index.

The new substance is the missed-pickup count in two existing reports. The annual report’s name and public-posting requirement are moved from subsection (h) into new subsection (i), not created for the first time. The local response team’s existing report-or-explanation structure is retained. Prior statewide reporting law; Prior local reporting law; Enacted additions.

For the full amendment record, open the official amendment index.

Official bill versions

Compare the published text versions in the official text index. A change is not attributed to a specific amendment here without a verified record.

Who could benefit—and who could bear the costs?

Survivors, lawmakers and local officials may gain a clearer picture of delays between a medical examination and police collection, separate from delays at a laboratory. Agencies and response teams must gather and report the added count. Better reporting may support oversight, but SB608 does not itself ensure faster pickup, faster testing or prosecution, and supplies no new penalty or dedicated appropriation. Reporting changes.

The March 17 introduced-bill fiscal note—the only posted note, for text unchanged in the final law—anticipates no significant state or local fiscal impact and assumes costs can be absorbed with existing resources. It does not quantify a reduction in delays or a benefit for an individual case. Official fiscal note.

Official sources

Catalog report retrieved 2026-10-25. Check the official record for corrections or later changes.