END THE BACKLOG is an initiative of the JOYFUL HEART FOUNDATION
Minnesota
Minnesota has implemented all but one of six pillars of rape kit reform. If the state mandates the testing of previously untested kits or clears its backlog, it will achieve comprehensive rape kit reform.
Minnesota has implemented all but one of six pillars of rape kit reform. If the state mandates the testing of previously untested kits or clears its backlog, it will achieve comprehensive rape kit reform.
Statewide Inventory
Yes, the state carried out a one-time inventory.
Is the inventory recurring?
No
Are law enforcement agencies and/or labs required to participate in the inventory?
Yes
Does the law require to document the date of when each kit was collected?
Yes
Does the law require a reason to be given as to why the kit was not submitted to a crime lab for testing?
Yes
Does the law require untested kits to be counted?
Yes
Test Backlogged Kits
No, the state has not committed to testing its backlogged kits.
Does the law require law enforcement to submit all untested kits, including those past the statute of limitation, within a certain deadline?
n/a
Does the law set a deadline for the crime laboratory to complete analysis once a kit has been submitted to the lab?
n/a
Does the law require kits past the statute of limitations to be sent in for testing?
n/a
Does the law allow public crime labs to outsource unsubmitted kits?
n/a
Test New Kits
Yes, all newly collected kits are being tested.
According to the law, how much time after a rape kit examination do hospitals have to notify law enforcement that a kit is ready to be picked up?
Not specified
According to the law, after being notified, within what time frame is law enforcement required to pick up the kit?
10 Days
According to the law, after picking the kit up, within what time frame is law enforcement required to submit the kit to the lab?
60 Days
According to the law, after receiving the kit, within what time frame is the lab required to test the kit?
Not specified
Does the law allow crime labs to outsource kits for testing if they are unable to meet the deadline?
Not specified
Implement Tracking System
Yes, tracking system in use.
Does the law state that the tracking system should track initial collection at hospital, inventory and storage by law enforcement, and testing and storage by state labs?
No
Does the law state that the tracking system should track if kit a has been destroyed?
No
Does the law allow all agencies who participate in the tracking system to update the status of a kit?
No
Does the law state that the tracking system should have a victim portal?
Yes
Does the law require law enforcement, labs, and hospitals to participate in the tracking system?
No
Does the law state that all previously untested kits should be entered into the system?
No
Victim's Right To Know
Yes, the state has granted victims the right to notice and be informed on the status of their kit.
Do victims have the right to receive information of the location, testing date, and testing results of their kit?
Yes
Do victims have the right to be informed when there is any change in the status of their case?
No
Do victims have the right to receive notification before destruction of their kit?
No
Are victims granted further preservation of the kit or its probative contents?
No
Are victims provided with the contact information for the designated liaison(s) at the corresponding law enforcement agency at the time that a kit is collected?
Yes
Do victims have the right to receive a physical document identifying their rights under law?
No
Fund Reform
Yes, the state has allocated ongoing funding.
See state reform timeline below.
Take Action Today to Bring Further Rape Kit Reform to Minnesota
In 2025, Minnesota legislators enacted HF2432, a bill allocating $3,504,000 each year to decrease turnaround times for forensic processing evidence. Additional staff and supplies funded under this provision are intended, among other purposes, to reduce the backlog in SAEK testing, to prevent the development of any future backlogs in testing SAEKs, and to provide survivors access to the status of the testing of their exam kits via the relevant exam testing tracking systems.
The bill also requires, by January 1, 2027, and each year thereafter, the commissioner to submit a report on the use of these funds in the previous fiscal year. The report must: (1) include the data necessary to understand SAEK testing times; and (2) identify the barriers to testing all SAEKs within 90 days of receipt by the laboratory in the preceding year and in the upcoming year.
According to a December 2024 report by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), there were 153 rape kits awaiting testing at the state crime lab.
In 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) awarded the City of Duluth Police Department nearly $1 million to develop a sustainability plan for sexual assault reform.
In 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) awarded the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office $1,150,000 to complete the testing of the untested sexual assault kits identified in a 2015 statewide survey of untested SAKs by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
In 2023, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) announced it had processed all 2,366 backlogged rape kits from the 2015 inventory, resulting in 357 DNA profile matches in the state’s database, and around 130 individuals who had not been previously identified in any cases. The Minneapolis Police Department also reported an extra 1,700 untested kits in 2019. BCA Superintendent Drew Evans said the BCA has gotten through 1,339 of those and the remaining ones will be completed by early next year.
According to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, all kits identified in the 2015 inventory have been tested. The BCA has also tested 1,339 of 1,700 additional kits identified by the Minneapolis Police Department after the inventory was completed. This puts the backlog at 361. Testing of the remaining Minneapolis kits is anticipated to be completed early 2024.
In 2023, HF2890 was signed into law, allocating additional $4,500,000 the first year and $3,500,000 the second year to reduce turnaround timelines and the rape kit backlog. Under this bill, the state crime lab will “strive” for 90-day testing timeline. Costs of administering sexual assault exams shifted from the county, city, and private hospitals to the state, covered with $7.7 million allocated under this bill.
In 2023, legislators in Minnesota introduced HB2034. This bill would have mandated labs to have a 90 day turnaround for testing rape kits. This bill failed to pass.
According to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, there are 2,498 untested kits of the 5,148 identified during a 2015 statewide inventory and a 2019 discovery by Minneapolis Police.
Department officials discovered an accounting error when they were reviewing cases in order to be in compliance with the 2018 law, HF3017. In February 2020, a local journalist’s investigation uncovered that 450 untested rape kits had been destroyed by law enforcement agencies.
In 2020, HF1 was signed into law, and Minnesota achieved the tracking and funding pillars of rape kit reform. The bill appropriated $3,096,000 in 2021 with an ongoing annual fund of $2,067,000 to pay for the testing and storage of kits and the development of a website for survivors. HF1 also eliminated language that previously allowed law enforcement to hold back certain kits from testing, requires the submitting agency to store unrestricted kits indefinitely, mandates the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to store restricted kits for at least 30 months, and requires the Commissioner of Public Safety to maintain a website database providing survivors with information on the status of their kits.
In 2020, BJA awarded the City of Minneapolis Police Department $2 million to test kits, investigate and prosecute cases, and re-engage survivors. It also awarded the state of Minnesota $2 million to sustain its work on rape kit reform. The same year, BJA awarded the city of Duluth $662,659 to collect lawfully owed DNA samples from identified offenders, test the samples, and upload eligible DNA profiles into the Combined DNA Index System. It also provided an additional $678,502 to investigate and prosecute cold case sexual assaults. BJA awarded the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension $982,232 to track and report on rape kits.
In November 2019, the Minneapolis Police Department announced they had found nearly 1,700 untested kits, much higher than the 194 they reported in the 2015 inventory.
In 2018, Minnesota legislators passed HF3017, which mandated kit submission requirements for rape kits, granted survivors the right to notice regarding rape kit testing status, and increased evidence retention protections.
In 2018, BJA awarded the state of Minnesota $2 million to test kits, investigate and prosecute cases, and re-engage survivors. BJA awarded an additional $1 million to the city of Duluth to sustain its work in rape kit reform.
In 2017, BJA awarded the city of Duluth an additional $626,835 to test the remainder of their backlogged kits, improve efficiency of DNA analysis techniques, and support the investigation of backlog-related cases.
In 2017, Minnesota legislators introduced HF1877, which would have required prompt submission of newly collected rape kits and established a survivor’s right to information about their kit, but this bill failed to pass.
In 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) awarded the Duluth Police Department $1,011,096 to test kits, investigate and prosecute cases, and re-engage survivors.
We haven’t filed an Accountability FOIA in this state ⏤ yet.
Want to advocate for accountability in your state?
The Joyful Heart Foundation today applauded the Minnesota state legislature’s passage of a law granting survivors of sexual assault the right to know about the status of their rape kit. Minnesota Bill SF2863 has now been signed into law by Governor Mark Dayton.
As the state legislative sessions are ending or paused for a summer break, we look back at our achievements this year. 29 states and Puerto Rico introduced 50 bills related to our six pillars of comprehensive sexual assault kit reform. Out of these, 12 states passed 15 laws. This year, Mississippi enacted its first ever […]
In the 2022 session, we rebuilt our website endthebacklog.org, wrote an academic book chapter and “The State of the Backlog” report, while successfully advocating for rape kit reform across the country. “The State of the Backlog” report provides a birds-eye view of rape kit reform field, focusing on what we have started, where we have […]
