Colorado

On June 5, 2013, Colorado became the third state to enact legislation requiring the counting and testing of rape kits booked into evidence. The legislation included almost $7 million to clear the state's backlog. In 2012, a reporter had uncovered hundreds of untested kits at police departments in the Denver area alone. In the months following the law's enactment, police departments from across the state submitted inventories indicating a total of 6,283 previously untested kits. As of November 2013, 32 departments had yet to report their numbers.

More than one year after the passage of the law, testing is complete on approximately 300 previously untested kits. Among those kits, there have been 30 matches to known offenders in the national DNA database so far. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation is prioritizing the testing of backlogged kits on which the 10-year statute of limitations has not yet expired. 

For more information about reforms happening in Colorado, click here.