December 16, 2015
Carson City, NV – Nevada Attorney General Adam Paul Laxalt issued the following statement after the Interim Finance Committee’s approval of funds to address Nevada’s untested rape kits:
“Today, the Legislature approved the $3.68 million my Office pledged in September toward eliminating Nevada’s backlog of more than 7,500 untested rape kits,” said Laxalt. “Beginning early next year, this state will send kits out for testing, so that law enforcement agents can prosecute sexual predators and help secure justice for survivors. I applaud the Legislature for joining with law enforcement to solve this decades-old problem.”
A sexual assault kit is used to collect physical evidence during an invasive and lengthy examination conducted at a hospital or rape crisis center following a sexual assault. Generally, these kits contain a checklist, materials and instructions, as well as a means to package any specimens collected during the examination. The secured funds were made available by a Bureau of Consumer Protection settlement through the Attorney General’s Office, as well as a federal Sexual Assault Kit Initiative grant program applied for and received by the Office.
AG Laxalt chairs a Sexual Assault Kit Working Group to find creative solutions to address the backlog of untested kits, and to create policies and procedures associated with the backlog that would assist in identifying suspects and prosecuting sexual predators.
###