NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A bill that would require the state of Tennessee to test all rape kits within 30 days after receipt died on the Tennessee House floor Tuesday after not being included in the House Finance, Ways and Means Subcommittee's proposed budget.
The bill (HB0104) proposed by Rep. Antonio Parkinson of Memphis, would require around $5 million added to the state budget, which was denied Tuesday.
Parkinson took issue to this, referencing $250 million in the proposed budget for a "rainy day fund," but subcommittee Chairwoman Patsy Hazelwood said the reason the bill wasn't included in the budget proposal was more of a matter of not having enough personnel at the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) to fulfil its requirements.
According to the TBI, it currently takes months on average for a rape kit to be tested and results returned to the requesting law enforcement department. The length of time it has taken to test rape kits received national attention last September when Memphis teacher Eliza Fletcher was kidnapped and killed while on her morning jog.
It was later discovered that the man arrested and charged with the crime, Cleotha Henderson, had been linked to a rape case a year earlier, but the rape kit that could possibly have had him arrested and off the street hadn’t even been tested at that time.
Rep. Parkinson said if the rape kit had been tested in a timely manner, it’s possible that Henderson would have been incarcerated and unable to abduct and murder Fletcher.
“I am completely disappointed in the lack of action on the part of the Tennessee legislature to fund getting rape kits tested in 30 days," Parkinson said. "This is an exact repeat of what took place in 2014. Our inaction in 2014, played a part in the death of Eliza Fletcher. This is a slap in the face to all victims of rape in our state. We put $250 million into the rainy day fund that put us over $2 billion dollars. But we wouldn’t fund $5 million to test rape kits in 30 days. We can do better.”
While the bill could technically be revived in the Senate's Finance, Ways and Means Subcommittee on Thursday through a similar senate bill by Sen. London Lamar, Tennessee Democrats said such a revival would be "extremely rare."