Summary

As required by House Bill 1, approved by the 86th Texas Legislature in 2019, the State Auditor’s Office (SAO) conducted an audit to examine the investigation and prosecution processes for reported adult and child sexual assaults in Texas from January 1, 2014, through December 31, 2018. An Audit Report on Investigation and Prosecution Processes for Reported Sexual Assaults in Texas, (SAO Report No. 21-002) is available in the sidebar and on the SAO Reports page. As a part of the audit methodology described in A Report on The State Auditor’s Office’s Methodology for Examining the Investigation and Prosecution Processes for Reported Sexual Assaults in Texas (SAO Report No. 20-014, December 2019) , the SAO conducted a statewide survey and received responses from the following entities:

• Local Law Enforcement Agencies (i.e. city police departments and county sheriff’s offices) regarding their processes for investigating sexual assault crimes.
• District Attorneys' Offices regarding their processes for prosecuting sexual assault crimes.
• Community-based Advocacy Organizations regarding feedback from survivors of sexual assaults. The survey includes questions concerning survivors’ experiences with the investigation and prosecution processes of sexual assault crimes.
• Crime Laboratories regarding their processing and testing of sexual assault kits, as well as the testing of other forensic evidence related to sexual assault crimes.
• District Clerks' Offices regarding their processes for reporting prosecution and court data related to sexual assault crimes to the Department of Public Safety and the Office of Court Administration.

Of the 1,630 entities surveyed, the SAO received responses from 1,029, a 63 percent response rate.

The following entities did not complete surveys because the information was collected from them during site visits and incorporated in the report:

• Bexar County - Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, Bexar County District Attorney’s Office, and Bexar County District Clerk’s Office.
• Dallas County - Dallas Police Department, Dallas County District Attorney’s Office, and Dallas County District Clerk’s Office.
• Harris County - Houston Police Department, Harris County District Attorney’s Office, and Harris County District Clerk’s Office.
• Tarrant County - Fort Worth Police Department, Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office, and Tarrant County District Clerk’s Office.
• Travis County - Austin Police Department, Travis County Sheriff’s Office, Travis County District Attorney’s Office, and Travis County District Clerk’s Office.

This supplemental web report summarizes the responses at a statewide level based on the type of entity (local law enforcement agency, district attorneys' office, district clerk’s office, crime laboratory, and advocacy organization). The summaries for each entity type are available in the sidebar to the left (by clicking on Survey Results) or, for non-mobile users, via the navigation bar at the top of the web page. A printable version of the complete summary of the survey responses is available in the sidebar.

In addition, auditors collected statewide data for calendar years 2014 through 2018 on reported incidents, arrest charges, and court dispositions per county for sexual assaults from the Department of Public Safety. An interactive map of this data is available in the sidebar to the left (by clicking on Interactive Map). A printable version of the summary of survey respondents and sexual assault crime data by county is also available in the sidebar.