Ending the rape kit backlog will take a coordinated effort and deep commitment at all levels of government. Throughout the country, State Attorneys General have joined this effort to take action to address their state’s backlogs of untested rape kits. These actions have made communities safer and helped to bring justice for survivors. The initiatives below pose as examples to Attorneys General in other states who might be exploring ways to address their jurisdiction’s backlog:
Undertaking a Statewide Inventory
Without a statewide inventory of untested rape kits, the extent of a state’s backlog remains in the dark. A thorough inventory of untested rape kits brings transparency and accountability to rape kit testing practices in a state and across different communities within a state. Such a mapping gives states a clear picture for planning and allocating resources for testing kits and other reforms. In 2017, the Missouri Attorney General announced his office would conduct a preliminary inventory of untested rape kits. This effort created awareness about the issue in the state, and was followed by a 2018 law mandating development of kit handling procedures and other laws.
In 2019, the Missouri Attorney General launched the state’s Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence (SAFE) Kit Initiative. The comprehensive statewide untested rape kit inventory located 7,019 SAFE kits. This included AG staff traveling 17,000 miles to conduct site visits with law enforcement agencies, hospitals, and other ancillary organizations. The SAFE kit inventory included 631 law enforcement agencies, 193 healthcare providers, and 4 ancillary organizations.
Proposing State Legislation
Attorneys General have the power to propose legislation to initiate rape kit reform in their states. In 2015, the Nevada Attorney General created a Sexual Assault Kit Working Group to craft policies and procedures associated with the state’s backlog of nearly 8,000 kits. The group created a webpage to track the project’s success and led to the Attorney General proposing legislation on rape kit submission and testing deadlines. In 2017, Nevada legislators enacted AB97, a law requiring kit submission timelines and granting state funding to test backlogged kits.
After 15,000 untested rape kits were discovered in North Carolina in 2018, Attorney General Josh Stein proposed the Standing Up for Rape Victims Act in January of 2019. The bill, HB29, was enacted the same year, mandating local law enforcement agencies to submit kits for testing to an accredited lab and granting $6 million to address the current backlog of sexual assault kits. Stein also championed a rape kit tracking system in the state.
Creating a Special Unit to Address Cold Cases
Absence of timely testing has led to backlogged kits, some which have been left untested for decades. In these sexual assault cold cases, investigations are challenging as witnesses can’t be found or memories fade. In January 2018, the Kentucky Attorney General created a new unit in his office to investigate and prosecute sexual assault cold cases, using a $3 million federal Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) grant. His office provided an additional $3.5 million in settlement money to upgrade the state police crime lab and $1 million to aid police and prosecutors in investigations and prosecutions. Those funds were also used to test all remaining untested kits. In 2020, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost created a similar unit.
Through its End the Backlog initiative, Joyful Heart is implementing a national campaign to pass comprehensive rape kit reform in all 50 states. We stand ready to work with your office. Please contact us at policy@endthebacklog.org or 212-475-2026.