Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill into law Tuesday aimed at clearing thousands of untested rape kits statewide and funding a new high-throughput testing lab at the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab in Vancouver.
House Bill 1166 passed the legislature in two unanimous votes. The House passed the bill on March 6 while the Senate passed it on April 11.
Law enforcement and lawmakers have reported that there is a backlog of about 10,000 sexual assault kits statewide.
The bill sets up new procedures for testing rape kits and calls for the development of the lab in Vancouver, which should allow the backlog to be eliminated by December 2021.
The space for the new lab already exists. A large empty room on the second floor of the crime lab on Kauffman Avenue will undergo renovations paid for largely by grant money. Once its fully equipped, forensic scientists will use newer, faster testing technologies and refined techniques to test rape kits.
To fully staff the high-throughput lab, Washington State Patrol will need to hire eight forensic scientists, a lab technician and a property and evidence custodian, among additional staff outside of the new lab.
According to data provided by WSP Capt. Monica Alexander, who has been petitioning for the passage and funding of the bill, more than 2,000 kits can be tested each year if the new lab is fully staffed. The desired funding would include money for overtime pay and reviewing newer rape kits that need to be outsourced.
There is money allocated in both versions of the record $50-billion-plus state budget being negotiated by the legislature.
“The good thing is that there’s funding in both versions,” said Alexander.
She said the House proposes putting $10.29 million toward the legislation. The Senate calls for about $10.93 million. The original amount requested was $13 million, Alexander said.
“It’s so close to what we asked for,” she said. “We’re very, very grateful for it. I think there will be a few adjustments but we’re still going to stick to the original plan to try and move forward and get things done.”
Tackling the issue of untested rape kits has local backing. The Clark County Council in mid-February passed a resolution supporting troopers’ 2019 state funding request for an additional $6 million to establish the high-throughput lab.
The bill would create a “Survivor Bill of Rights” and require that kits be tested within 45 days of being collected. Currently, DNA analysis of some rape kits takes an average of a year to complete.
HB 1166 would also require law enforcement to undergo specialized trauma-informed training and prohibit the destruction of untested rape kits.
