Governors and state officials have taken notice in recent years as more and more cold cases rapes are being solved through advanced DNA analysis, including investigative genetic genealogy. The common denominator between all the cases—and where it all starts—is the processing of the rape kit. If rape kits do not get processed, rapists continue to live freely and, in most cases, commit more crimes and rapes. For example, according to a study from Case Western Reserve University, 74% of serial rapists had at least one prior felony arrest, while 95% of all serial rapists had a subsequent felony arrest.
The best way to get these numbers down is by taking these rapists off the streets. In order to do that, their DNA has to be linked to a rape kit. And in order to show that, rape kits need to be processed—quickly, not years after the crime.
Leaders in Oklahoma and Mississippi have recently passed laws to support this initiative. Meanwhile in Tennessee—even after the brutal kidnapping, rape and murder of a beloved mother and teacher by a serial rapist—lawmakers failed to advance a bill that would require a 30-day turnaround for rape kits.
Two passed bills
In Oklahoma, the recently passed Senate Bill 1000 gives the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) more authority over rape kits in the state. Namely, the bill gives OSBI the power to inquire about the location of rape kits that have not yet been submitted to an accredited crime laboratory.
“We wanted to ensure the statutory authority for OSBI to call the law enforcement agency to inquire about the location and custody of a kit, and that the law enforcement agency can provide this information so the kits can then be processed,” said principal author of the bill Kay Floyd, D-Oklahoma City.
Senate Bill 1000 will become effective on Nov. 1, 2023.
Over in Mississippi, House Bill 485 establishes a new timeline for the processing of rape kits. The bill requires a medical facility to notify law enforcement within four hours of performing the invasive sexual assault examination and generating a kit. Then, law enforcement is required to pick up the kit within 24 hours and deliver it to the state crime lab no later than 7 days after pickup. Finally, the crime lab has 60 days to process the kit.
The bill also establishes the Sexual Assault Evidence Accountability Task Force, a 12-member committee tasked with developing and implementing standardized policies and procedures for rape kit analysis. The task force, in coordination with the Mississippi Forensics Laboratory and the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, must also conduct a study examining the resources required to implement a rape kit tracking system and issue a report by July 1, 2024.
House Bill 485 will take effect in Mississippi on Dec. 1, 2023.
One failed bill
Mississippi’s Governor Tate Reeves signed House Bill 485 one day before similar legislation died in Tennessee.
House Bill 104 would require the state of Tennessee to test all rape kits within 30 days after receipt. However, the bill died on the Tennessee House floor last month after not being included in the House Finance, Ways and Means Subcommittee's proposed budget.
The bill would have required about $5 million be added to the state budget. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigations argued that completing a 30-day turnaround would require "significant funding," more full-time positions and a new laboratory space, according to the proposed bill.
Rep. Antonio Parkinson (D-Memphis) and Sen. London Lamar (D-Memphis) introduced the bill in March 2023, partly in response to the brutal murder of Fletcher. Fletcher, a kindergarten teacher and mother of two, was jogging in the early morning when she was abducted. She was then raped and murdered, and her body was dumped behind a vacant apartment building.
A few days after Fletcher’s body was found, the state crime lab processed DNA results from a 2021 rape kit that pointed to Cleotha Abston—the suspect in Fletcher’s case. Abston had already served time in prison for the abduction of a Memphis lawyer nearly 20 years prior, so his DNA was in CODIS. The 2021 rape victim, Alicia Franklin, subsequently sued the city of Memphis for not investigating her claims until Fletcher's case made headlines. She has said in multiple interviews that she believes Fletcher would still be alive if her rape kit had been processed earlier.
House Bill 104 was another version of Representative Parkinson’s also-failed 2014 bill, which similarly sought to address the rape kit backlog in Tennessee.
"Unfortunately, it looks like a repeat of 2014, where the rape kit bill WAS NOT FUNDED. I guess getting #RapeKits tested within 30 days, once again, is not a priority for the state of Tennessee. Another sad day for our state. To the family of Eliza Fletcher, I am truly sorry," Parkinson wrote on Twitter.