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Impact of Texas's Electronic Sexual Assault Evidence Kit Tracking System on Emergency Department Utilization for
Hannah Rochford1, Jess Garcia1, Burcu Sagiroglu1
1Hannah Rochford is with the School of Public Health, Texas A&M University, College Station. Rebecca Vieh is the with the Texas Department of Public Safety Crime Laboratories, Austin. Ilse Knecht and Burcu Sagiroglu are with the Joyful Heart Foundation, Brooklyn, NY. Jess Garcia is with the Criminology & Criminal Justice Program at University of Texas at Dallas. Nancy R. Downing is with the University of North Texas Health College of Nursing, Fort Worth.
None:
Texas's Sexual Assault Evidence Kit (SAK) Policy reform increased emergency department (ED) utilization for sexual assault care (+2.7%). Counties without a sexual assault forensic examination (SAFE)-ready facility in their borders experienced a greater increase (+6.1%) than counties with a SAFE-ready facility (+2.1%). For medical forensic examinations (MFEs) with SAK completion, non-SAFE-ready counties experienced a significant increase (+12.8%), but SAFE-ready counties experienced a significant decrease (-3.6%). This may indicate that residents of non-SAFE-ready counties are now pursuing MFEs with SAK completion locally instead of traveling for care. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print July 16, 2026:e1-e5. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2026.308553).
