New Law Requires Quicker Rape Kit Submission, More Victims Rights
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Rape kits are key tools used to solve crimes in Minnesota, but for years many were going untested.
"About 50 percent of the time when a victim reports the person that raped her was actually a serial rapist, so we want to make sure that these serial rapists are taken off the streets," said Rep. Marion O'Neill, R-Maple Lake.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension completed an audit in 2015 that showed nearly 3,500 kits were untested and backlogged. Now, a new law will put a stricter timeline on submitting the kits.
"To make sure that survivors' needs are heard, and that the criminal justice system is supporting survivors of sexual abuse," said Teri McLaughlin from the Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault.
Law enforcement will have 10 days to receive a sexual assault examination kit for victims. They have to submit that kit for testing within 60 days. Victims must also be given a response within 30 days of an inquiry about when their kit was submitted to a lab and if a DNA profile was matched.
"Many of them consider that an aspect of them in those little boxes, and it's important for them to … have access to that information. What's happening with it?" McLaughlin said.
O'Neill, the law's author, says this is only the beginning to create more rights for sexual assault victims.
"This is just a step in the direction of what we need to do to make sure victims of sexual violence … that they find justice," O'Neill said.
Collecting test kits can cost as much as $1,000. O'Neill said they will have to take up the issue of cost in the budget session next year.
There are more than 30 organizations involved in the group that helped craft the Sexual Assault Examination Kit Reform Law.
"This is just a step in the direction of what we need to do to make sure victims of sexual violence ... that they actually find justice," she said.
In addition to making more rules for law enforcement, this new law also gives victims more power track their case. They are allowed to submit a written request to find out when their kit was processed and if there were any DNA matches.
