House unanimously passes bill requiring processing of rape kits

Rep. Melissa Wintrow’s bill, HB 528 , to create and codify a system for the processing of sexual assault evidence kits, commonly referred to as rape kits, has passed the House on a unanimous, 70-0 vote. The evidence kits are used by law enforcement, health care facilities and the Idaho State Police Forensics Laboratory in sexual assault cases, but currently, no laws address how the kits are handled, and many have gone untested and unused.

Wintrow, D-Boise, said her bill would provide a consistent process to better support victims, law enforcement, health care facilities and the forensics lab. The bill declares, “It is the intent of the Legislature that sexual assault evidence kits are tested in a timely manner to advance public safety.”

The bill requires that unless an adult victim of a reported sexual assault “expressly indicates otherwise,” the evidence kits shall be tested by the ISP forensic lab. It also lays out required timelines and procedures. The bill now moves to the Senate side.

In November, the Idaho Press-Tribune published two stories after learning that Canyon County law enforcement’s submission of rape kits varied widely in testing rates. They ranged from 10 percent in the Nampa Police Department, to 54 percent submitted by the Caldwell Police Department and 52 percent of Canyon County Sheriff’s Office kits were submitted for testing. The Press-Tribune then reviewed 22 Idaho law enforcement agencies using public record requests, and found great disparity in rape kit testing rates between law enforcement agencies.

Over five years, Twin Falls Police, for example, had a 23 percent submission rate; Moscow Police had a 35 percent submission rate of rape kits being sent for testing at a lab.