[Jerry Glenn Hartwig]

Who pays for the rape kit, the collection of evidence and the resultant forensics in your town?

Laura - Actually, I'm not sure.

We carry the kits in our cruisers, and they are issued to us by the PD. I'm sure they come out of the city budget, but throught the police or fire department (EMTs), I'm not sure. Our departments work closely together, and with our hospital. The hospital often replenishes supplies in out ambulances and we reimburse them later.

The hospital calls in a SANE nurse to do the examination, and I would assume her services are paid for by the patient or insurance. The city pays for services we legally request, but we can't force a person to undergo a SANE examination. If they are uninsured and cannot pay, the hospital probably absorbs the cost.

Same for the lab fees: in most investigations in which we can order a service, the city pays. I assume the lab fees are handled in the same way the nurse's fee is.

If you really need to know, I can double-check tomorrow and give you a definitive answer.