Employees of the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory say they have seen a significant decrease in the number of untested sexual assault kits the state has on file.
Officials say, in a year, the number dropped from 600 untested kits to about 130. A kit is made at a hospital after an assault. Victims are swabbed all over the body, and blood, urine, and hair samples are often taken. The examination is meant to look for “foreign DNA” or DNA not belonging to the victim.
Jennifer Beaty-West, Deputy Director of the State Crime Lab, says the DNA in these kits does not expire when the kit goes untested. Act 558, passed by lawmakers last year, required every sexual assault kit to have a serial number allowing victims to track their progress on a public website.
Law enforcement agencies are required to request the results within 15 days. The State Crime Lab is required to audit its kits every year. When DNA is found on the victim, it is immediately entered into the state's databases.
At a Joint Budget Committee meeting Friday, Beaty-West said, along with there being fewer kits, the time it takes to test a kit is getting shorter.
“We are, right now, at a 90-day turnaround with our sexual assault kits,” she said. “This is a significant decrease from this time last year when we were about eight months out.”
She said the progress had to do with higher rates of staffing in the DNA unit.
“It takes about a year to train a DNA analyst,” she said. In August, Beaty-West anticipates finishing the last wave of DNA training after adding five additional positions in the last few months.
The lab has a goal to get the testing time down to 60 days by 2025.
The state also houses “anonymous kits.” This is when a victim chooses not to press charges, but the state keeps the kit if they ever change their mind.
Chief Medical Examiner Ted Brown was excited about the huge gains made with sexual assault tests, and the future of the Crime Lab.
“There are more opportunities for us to improve and better attract excellent forensics scientists,” he said, explaining that he was studying the pay structures of other crime labs to see how they could improve.
“We are unfortunately one of the lowest states in starting pay,” said Sandy Williams, the lab's Deputy Director of Administrative Operations. “I believe Mississippi is the only state that is behind us.”
Senate President Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs, said he is committed to building a new facility. Lawmakers discussed possible plans and locations for the new facility during the meeting Friday.
