Washington

In 2024, legislators enacted SB5950. This is general fiscal bill, which appropriates $801,000 of state funds to create a permanent sexual assault kit initiative program.

In 2023, the Washington Attorney General announced that the state’s rape kit backlog, which at one point was at over 10,000 kits, has been cleared.

In 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) awarded the Metropolitan Police Department $1,250,000 to support the continued investigation and resolution of unsolved sexual assault-related cases through advanced DNA testing and investigative tools.

Washington Attorney General’s office announced that all the backlogged kits are sent to labs for testing. The state needs to complete testing of all these kits to end its backlog.

According to a report by the Office of the Attorney General there were 3330 untested kits in Washington in 2022.

In June 2021, the Spokane Police Department (SPD) set up a phone line and email address to aid in investigations of rape kits previously backlogged under the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Project (SAKI). Survivors whose kits were among the more than 1,500 kits submitted by SPD to crime labs could reach out to SPD to look into their cases.

SB5092 required the commission to report on tested and untested kits, and sexual assault investigations by June 30, 2022. The new law also allocated $750,000 to administer the rape kit initiative for Fiscal Year 2021-23.

SB5451 required the commission to report on tested and untested kits, and sexual assault investigations by June 30, 2022. The bill also allocated $500,000 to administer the rape kit initiative in Fiscal Year 2019-21; $58,000 and $5.77 million to implement HB1166, which passed in 2019; and $750,000 both in Fiscal Year 2022 and Fiscal Year 2023 to administer the rape kit initiative.

HB1109 granted survivors additional rights, including timely notification on the status of investigations and prosecution of cases. In April 2021, this bill was signed into law.

In 2020, legislators passed HB2318, which increased the retention time for unreported kits to 20 years. Under the bill, the Criminal Justice Training Commission was required to research, design, and develop case review strategies to optimize outcomes in sexual assault investigations through improved training and investigatory practices. The commission was to submit a report with a summary of its proposal to the governor and the appropriate committees of the legislature by December 1, 2020.

Enacted in 2020, HB2325 ensured additional funding of $58,000 to implement a tracking system, and $2 million for law enforcement to administer the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Project (SAKI) to resolve untested kits.

In 2020, BJA awarded the attorney general an additional $670,000 to collect lawfully owed DNA samples from identified offenders, test the samples, and upload eligible DNA profiles into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS).

In 2019, Washington legislators enacted HB1166, establishing a Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights, including the right to information, upon request, about the forensic analysis of their rape kits and the right to receive notice before destruction of their kits. Furthermore, the law mandated that by May 1, 2022, the testing of all new rape kits must be completed within 45 days. The law additionally established an advisory group within the Office of the Attorney General that was to report by December 2021 its recommendations on policies to eliminate the backlog of untested kits. Lastly, the law required trauma-informed and victim-centered training for law enforcement. With this law, Washington had enacted all six pillars of comprehensive rape kit reform.

In 2019, BJA awarded the Washington state attorney general $1.5 million with an additional $1 million to sustain its work on rape kit reform.

In 2019, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) awarded a $920,951 grant to the Washington State Patrol to implement an evidence management program to inventory, track, and report untested kits.

In 2018, the Attorney General’s Office reported 6,460 untested kits from the 208 law enforcement agencies in the state.

Washington legislators introduced HB2353 which would have mandated the submission and testing of all backlogged rape kits and granted sexual assault survivors the right to notice regarding rape kit testing status and results. This bill failed to pass.

The Washington State Police committed to the forensic analysis of backlogged kits, as well as to entering newly submitted and backlogged kits into the Washington State Sexual Assault Kit Tracking System. As of September 2018, there were 658 registered users through the pilot program.

In 2018, Washington’s rape kit tracking system went live.

In 2017, Washington enacted HB1109, creating the Washington Sexual Assault Initiative Pilot Project, a grant program to fund the local inventory and submission of backlogged kits, as well as the investigation and prosecution of cases that arose from the testing of those kits. The law also strengthened requirements for victim-centered, trauma-informed training for various law enforcement positions statewide.

In 2017, the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) awarded the Washington state attorney general $3 million to test kits, investigate and prosecute cases, and re-engage survivors.

In 2016, Washington enacted HB2530, establishing a statewide rape kit tracking system and creating a training grant for law enforcement and Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANEs).

In 2016, Washington legislators appropriated nearly $3.8 million to fund the statewide tracking system. Additionally, the 2016-2017 budget appropriated $2.47 million to test backlogged rape kits.

In 2015, the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC) surveyed law enforcement agencies and announced a backlog of 5,881 untested kits across the state.

In 2015, Washington enacted HB1068, establishing a task force to develop a plan to address the state’s untested kits. The law also required law enforcement agencies, within 30 days of receipt, to submit a request for examination to the crime laboratory for prioritization for testing. In the same year, Washington legislators also appropriated $2.75 million to test newly collected kits.

In 2014, The Accountability Project issued an open records request to bring the number of untested rape kits in Seattle to light. Through this request, we uncovered a backlog of 1,276 untested kits in Seattle, prompting a local and statewide conversation about reform.