Missouri’s backlog of untested sexual assault kits has grown by 380% in 5 years. Why?

Reality Check is a Star series holding those with power to account and shining a light on their decisions. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email our journalists at RealityCheck@kcstar.com.

The backlog of untested sexual assault kits in Missouri has increased by 380% since 2019, according to data from the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

The patrol’s lab had 1,717 kits waiting to be tested as of April. Five years ago, that number sat at 358. It peaked in December 2021 with 1,960.

The kits contain evidence collected during a medical exam of a survivor’s body following a sexual assault. They can be used to identify and prosecute an assailant and to link crimes committed by the same person. Advocates also say testing kits in a timely manner demonstrates that law enforcement cares about sexual assault survivors and takes the crimes seriously.

Missouri’s backlog began decreasing when it got additional funding to test more kits. In April 2023, the highway patrol tested 276 kits. But that rate appears to have dropped around June last year when the number of kits tested per month went down to double digits and continued to plateau.

The highway patrol tested 54 kits in January of this year, 78 in February and 72 in March, according to Missouri State Highway Patrol Capt. Dusty Hoffman.

“More kits are submitted to the laboratory each month than what we are currently able to test resulting in a continuous increase in the number of kits to be tested,” Hoffman said.

Prior to June 2023, the lab had outsourced some of the testing. The testing rate has also slowed down because of staff vacancies and turnover, Hoffman said

Both of those factors are tied to funding.

“The funds for the outsourcing was depleted for the given time frame,” Hoffman said.

“As for the job turnover and vacancies, it boils down to non-competitive wages between the State of Missouri and private sector entities for employees with experience in the field.”

Training a new employee takes about two years.

Matthew Huffman, a spokesperson for the Missouri Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, said there were two major factors in the testing rate. One was staffing.

“Part of it is just an internal staff capacity issue of how many technicians they have to even be processing the kits,” Huffman said.

“Missouri just doesn’t have a competitive advantage to keep our crime lab staffed fully.”

Huffman said it would be helpful if the state allocated more money to hire additional staff and increase wages to retain employees.

The second factor the organization has noticed is that education and outreach have led to more survivors seeking forensic exams.

“It’s important to have that sort of context because otherwise it looks like we just have a lot of kits that are coming in and not being tested,” Huffman said. “It means that survivors understand where they can go for resources, they understand the process, and so more people are engaging in that process.”

A strong infrastructure for sexual assault response, Huffman said, is important so that survivors trust the system and perpetrators are held accountable.

While most law enforcement agencies send kits to the highway patrol for testing, the Kansas City Police Department has its own lab. Capt. Jake Becchina, a spokesman for the department, said the lab has 54 kits that are pending testing. They are in various stages of the process, from not yet started to nearly completed.

The typical testing turnaround time is 105 days, Becchina said.

The number of backlogged kits began garnering more attention around 2015. Federal funding was allocated to inventory, test the kits and upload the results to national DNA databases. From 2015 to March 2022, testing resulted in 13,961 DNA hits nationally, the Missouri Attorney General’s Office said.

If you need help, the Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault’s crisis line can be reached at 816-531-0233 or 913-642-0233. More resources can be found here.