States Address Backlog of Sexual Assault Evidence Kits.

• Author: Teigen, Anne

Stockpiles of untested rape kits are a serious challenge facing America's justice systems.

Congress passed the Sexual Assault Survivors' Bill of Rights Act in 2016 to ensure that, in federal cases (crimes occurring across state lines, in the military, in a federal prison or on federal land), assault survivors' rape kits would be preserved for the full statute of limitations, or 20 years, for free. It also requires victims to be notified before a kit is disposed of and gives them the ability to preserve it.

Nearly a dozen states have since passed laws similar to the federal version. Nevada, New Mexico and West Virginia passed theirs in 2019. California, Illinois, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont and Washington did so in the last three years.

Pennsylvania and Wyoming passed legislation in 2019 requiring annual audits of all untested rape kits. Alaska, Indiana...