In 2017, Kansas became the first state in the country to complete a statewide inventory of unsubmitted sexual assault kits with voluntary police cooperation. Now, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) has taken their commitment to testing to the next level, introducing legislation that will require Kansas law enforcement agencies submit all sexual assault kits for forensic analysis.
Through agency adoption of a written policy, House Bill 2228 requires any sexual assault kit connected to the report of a sexual assault be submitted within 30 days to one of three Kansas forensic laboratories or another accredited laboratory.
The legislation, which is years in the making, is a collaborative effort between law enforcement, prosecutors, victim advocates, laboratory professionals and medical personnel. The bill authors decided a written policy was necessary after the Kansas Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) discovered 2,200 untested kits in police storage in 2017.
In trying to understand why the kits were not tested, SAKI uncovered multiple reasons:
- If there was consent, sexual assault evidence was deemed less helpful
- The victim did not cooperate in the criminal justice process
- Likelihood of arrest or prosecution was deemed low
However, as DNA databases continue to grow, genetic genealogy overperforms and DNA technology improves, forensic testing has proven how evidence from cold case sexual assault kits is vital to today’s investigative process.
“The SAKI findings taught us the importance of testing sexual assault evidence even if it may not improve the chances of prosecution in that particular case. Testing all kits allows us to link cases and identify serial offenders,” said KBI Director Kirk Thompson. “This bill helps ensure that valuable sexual assault evidence will not be lost.”
HB 2228 has two additional victim-centric components that can play a large role in ensuring justice. First, it seeks to increase the number of years unreported sexual assault kits are retained by KBI—increasing from the current 5 to 20 years. Unreported kits are collected but not tested since the victim chose not to officially report the crime to law enforcement. There are many reasons victims of sexual assault do not report the crime when it occurs. However, we have seen women want to pursue litigation as they get older, as circumstances change, or for a myriad of other reasons. Unfortunately, if they wait too long—in Kansas’ case 5 years—they no longer have the evidence they needed to move forward. HB 2228 would give sexual assault victims more time to decide which path is right for them without fearing their evidence will be destroyed.
Second, HB 2228 requests that child advocacy centers be included in the list of facilities where sexual assault exams can be conducted, as long as professionally trained staff are present. This move can result in less trauma to child victims, as several studies have shown it is less traumatic for children to receive all necessary services in one facility. The elimination of needing to visit a hospital can also play a role in the comfortability of a young survivor.
Photo: A Kansas sexual assault kit. Credit: KBI.