WASHINGTON, USA — A new audit released Tuesday shows Washington state's sexual assault kit backlog has been cleared.
According to the Washington State Auditor's Office report, WSP has "effectively eliminated" the entire backlog and is now testing sexual assault kits within 45 days of receiving them.
Back in 2018, Washington law enforcement agencies had a backlog of more than 9,000 untested sexual assault kits, down from over 10,000 in 2014. Some of the rape kits dated back to the 1980s, delaying justice for survivors.
Since May of 2022, any new kit that comes in must be tested in 45 days under state law. At that time, WSP had tested 74% of sexual assault kits.
Before the law went into effect, it took WSP six months to a year to process a kit.
The 2020 law stated WSP must test the kits in this order:
- Active investigation and cases with impending court dates
- Active investigation where public safety is an immediate concern
- Violent crime investigations, including active sexual assault investigations
- Post-conviction cases
- Other crimes, investigations and nonactive investigations, such as previously unsubmitted older sexual assault kits
The audit recognized that the law doesn't set standards for evidence collection, so external factors, such as when WSP receives the request for testing and the complexity of the testing needed, can still significantly impact the process.
Importance of testing sexual assault kits
Whether or not the kits are part of an active investigation, they are important for evidence and closure for survivors.
For example, in 2023, a recently tested sexual assault kit linked a Spokane man to a murder in California that happened more than 40 years earlier. The kit had been sitting, untested, on a shelf since 1994.
The clearing of the rape kit backlog, plus the Attorney General’s forensic genetic genealogy program, helped solve eight cold cases across the state in 2022.
“The State Patrol has done commendable work,” said State Auditor Pat McCarthy. “Everyone who submits a sexual assault kit deserves to know it will be treated with seriousness and due diligence, and through this independent review, we can confirm that is now the case in Washington.”
WSP met the legal targets, so auditors did not provide formal recommendations but did say they hope the agency continues to test sexual assault kits in a timely manner.
