South Carolina has achieved one of six pillars of rape kit reform: The creation of a statewide rape kit tracking system.
Statewide Inventory
No, the state has not carried out an inventory.
Is the inventory recurring?
n/a
Are law enforcement agencies and/or labs required to participate in the inventory?
n/a
Does the law require to document the date of when each kit was collected?
n/a
Does the law require a reason to be given as to why the kit was not submitted to a crime lab for testing?
n/a
Does the law require untested kits to be counted?
n/a
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
No, the state has not mandated testing.
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?
n/a
According to the law, after being notified, within what time frame is law enforcement required to pick up the kit?
n/a
According to the law, after picking the kit up, within what time frame is law enforcement required to submit the kit to the lab?
n/a
According to the law, after receiving the kit, within what time frame is the lab required to test the kit?
n/a
Does the law allow crime labs to outsource kits for testing if they are unable to meet the deadline?
n/a
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?
Yes
Does the law state that the tracking system should track if kit a has been destroyed?
Yes
Does the law allow all agencies who participate in the tracking system to update the status of a kit?
Yes
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?
Yes
Does the law state that all previously untested kits should be entered into the system?
No
Victim's Right To Know
No, the state has not 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?
n/a
Do victims have the right to be informed when there is any change in the status of their case?
n/a
Do victims have the right to receive notification before destruction of their kit?
n/a
Are victims granted further preservation of the kit or its probative contents?
n/a
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?
n/a
Do victims have the right to receive a physical document identifying their rights under law?
n/a
Fund Reform
No, the state has not allocated any of its own funds towards reform.
n/a
Take Action Today to Bring Further Rape Kit Reform to South Carolina
According to a news article in November 2025, participation in the statewide rape kit tracking system, SLED, increased to 95% of law enforcement agencies and 76% of medical facilities – up from 64% of agencies and 50% of facilities in July 2024.
In 2025, legislators in South Carolina introduced HB3038, which would have granted survivors the right to information about the status and results of their kits; to a victim advocate; a free forensic examination and shower; the option to report anonymously; to be interviewed by a law enforcement officer of their choice and in their preferred language; to not to be discouraged from receiving a forensic exam; and to be informed of their rights under the law. This bill failed to pass.
In October 2024, the South Carolina Legislative Audit Council (SCLAC) released an audit of the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division’s (SLED’s) creation and operation of a statewide rape kit tracking system. According to the audit, SLED cannot verify the number of sexual assault kits in the system. Track-Kit recorded 763 total kits in the system as of July 1, 2024. However, just in SLED’s laboratory, as of October 2023, there were a reported 1,987 kits pending testing. The audit also found that only 64% of law enforcement agencies and 50% of medical facilities in South Carolina had enrolled in the Track-Kit system as of July 1, 2024. A day after the release of the report, SLED responded by saying that the organization successfully implemented the system and met the law’s “stated intent” to “empower survivors with information, assist law enforcement with investigations and crime prevention, and create transparency and foster public trust.”
According to a media report by WYFF in May 2024, there were 2749 sexual conduct cases waiting for analysis. It is unknown how many of these cases has an untested rape kit.
According to HB3309, South Carolina’s tracking legislation, all medical facilities, law enforcement agencies, and forensic laboratories within the state that are responsible for managing sexual assault kits were obligated to adopt the Sexual Assault Kit Tracking System (SAKTS) by June 2022. A progress report obtained by Fox Carolina, showed that as of June 2023, implementation is one year behind schedule.
In 2022, South Carolina legislators introduced HB4157 / SB686, a bill that would grant the survivors the right to know the status and results of kit analysis, and receive law enforcement reports.
In 2021, South Carolina legislators introduced HB3487, a bill that would have granted survivors the right to information on the status and results of their kits; to a victim advocate; to a free forensic examination; to a free shower if available; to report anonymously; to be interviewed by a law enforcement officer of the survivor’s choice and in the survivor’s preferred language; and to not to be discouraged from receiving a forensic exam. This bill failed to pass.
In 2020, the state passed HB3309. This piece of legislation required SLED to create and operate a statewide rape kit tracking system to follow kits throughout the criminal justice process. Entities that handle rape kits were required to participate in the system, which was also required to contain a secure portal to allow survivors to obtain information about their kits. Additionally, SLED was to produce semiannual reports detailing critical information such as: the total number kits in the system, the total number of kits surpassing six months since entry into the system that have yet to be tested, and the number of kits destroyed. Read our letter of support.
The extent of the untested rape kit backlog in South Carolina is not entirely known. In 2018, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) reported possessing 813 untested rape kits, but other law enforcement agencies did not provide a count of how many untested kits were in their possession. South Carolina law does not require law enforcement agencies to count or test rape kits.
In 2018, legislators introduced H4837, a bill that would have required law enforcement to count and submit backlogged rape kits for testing, mandated submission and testing of all newly collected rape kits, and required the creation of a statewide tracking system, which would have offered secure electronic access for survivors. This bill failed to pass.
In 2015, The Accountability Project issued an open records request to bring the number of untested kits in Charleston to light. Through our efforts, we learned that the Charleston Police Department (CPD) submitted 76% of all rape kits received between 2006 and 2015. As of October 2016, CPD had reported 88 untested kits.
Accountability
We have issued public records requests, through the Freedom of Information Act, to the following jurisdictions in South Carolina to discover whether they possess any untested rape kits.
The Joyful Heart Foundation (Joyful Heart) today applauded the news that H.B. 3309, which will create a statewide rape kit tracking system and requires semiannual inventory reports of untested sexual assault kits, is headed to Governor Henry McMaster’s desk for signature. This is the first reform effort enacted in the state.
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 […]
