Supporters of a bill that is advancing in the Iowa legislature hope to discover how many untested rape kits may be stuck in storage in Iowa police departments. Nationwide, authorities are discovering thousands of untested kits, which contain evidence collected after someone reports a sexual assault. Robert Hamill, an administrator in the Iowa attorney general’s crime victim assistance division, says testing some kits may result in new prosecutions.
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The Des Moines Police Department has already identified more than 800 untested rape kits. Hamill says they hope to develop better standards that let Iowa law enforcement officials know when a kit should be tested.
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The bill would require all law enforcement agencies to participate in an electronic survey, to try to find out how many rape kits have been untested. The bill cleared a House committee on a unanimous vote and awaits debate in the full House. The state has received a two-million dollar federal grant to find out the extent of the problem and conduct tests on the rape kits that are found in storage.