Texas Launches New Program Aimed at Increasing Sexual Assault Reporting
December 11, 2025 – A new Texas program designed to give sexual assault survivors more control over their reporting decisions is now in effect, and state leaders say it could significantly increase the number of people who seek medical care and evidence collection after an assault.
Under House Bill 1422, survivors can now receive a forensic medical exam and have DNA evidence tested without being required to immediately file a police report. The initiative, known as the Limited Consent for DNA Testing Program, removes what advocates describe as one of the most persistent barriers to reporting: fear of mandatory law-enforcement involvement.
“House Bill 1422 removes one of the biggest barriers sexual assault survivors face when deciding whether to seek help: the fear that getting a forensic exam means they must immediately involve law enforcement,” a state senator said in support of the program. “With the Limited Consent for DNA Testing Program now in place, survivors can take back some control, get critical evidence collected and tested at no cost, and decide later – on their own timeline – whether to move forward with a police report. The implementation of this program marks a historic step forward for survivor-centered justice in Texas.”
State officials and victim-advocacy groups say the program could lead to more timely evidence collection, higher reporting rates, and improved prosecution outcomes in cases where survivors later choose to report. Hospitals and sexual assault nurse examiners have been preparing for the change, which requires new protocols for handling, testing, and storing evidence.
The program represents a major shift in Texas’ approach to sexual assault response—one that prioritizes survivor autonomy and aims to reduce the number of unreported assaults across the state.
How to use the program
What you can do:
If requesting the release of the evidence and lab results to law enforcement in order to pursue an investigation, the survivor should:
- Contact the applicable law enforcement agency, based on where the offense occurred;
- Inform the agency that they are a survivor of a sexual assault, that evidence was previously collected, and was analyzed by the DPS; and
- Sign the Consent for Release of Limited Consent for DNA Testing of Sexual Assault Evidence form (LAB-209) to give DPS permission to release the lab report/kit to law enforcement. The law enforcement case number is required so that any eligible DNA profiles can be entered into CODIS.
Find out more information at this link.
