Colorado Bureau of Investigation vows to process backlog of sexual assault kits

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation is vowing to process the backlog of sexual assault kits. The accumulation of the kits to preserve evidence of potential sexual assault is 517 days.

That is nearly six times the state’s goal of 90 days. 

The head of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation said lab analysts are so far behind that it will take two years and $2.5 million to catch up. 

Chris Schaefer testified in front of the Joint Budget Committee at the state Capitol on Monday. He said that rape victims are waiting a year and a half for DNA to be processed. 

He said the money will allow him to outsource rape kits to other laboratories and bring down the wait time to three months. He also vowed to increase transparency after a former CBI DNA analyst was criminally charged for mishandling or manipulating evidence. Yvonne “Missy” Woods faces over 100 separate charges related to over 1,000 cases she worked on.

“I want to see on our website a dashboard that has turnaround times for this so everybody sees how we are chipping away at that,” said Schaefer. “I agree the best thing to do is overdeliver.”

The state Legislature has set aside $3 million to re-test the DNA from those allegedly mishandled cases but district attorneys have only asked for 14 new tests. Schaefer wants to reallocate most of the money for rape kits.