Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signs law creating rape kit oversight board, setting 60-day goal for processing

Calling Colorado s long turnaround times to process sexual assault evidence kits only unacceptable Gov Jared Polis signed a law Tuesday that creates a new review board and will require crime labs to endeavor to reach a -day testing target for the kits Lawmakers introduced Senate Bill after they heard testimony in January that sexual assault casualties were waiting more than days for the Colorado Bureau of Research to process their forensic exams commonly known as rape kits The new law creates the Colorado Sexual Assault Forensic Health Evidence Review Board in the attorney general s office and requires it to make annual reports to the General Assembly It also requires law enforcement to update sexual assault casualties every days if their forensic kit has not been processed The state must maintain a public-facing dashboard showing the time it takes to process the kits and the law says crime labs must endeavor subject to funding and lab maximum to provide a -day turnaround for testing of forensic evidence The new law is named after Miranda Gordon the sexual assault survivor who testified early this year to having waited more than days for her kit to be processed As of May sufferers were waiting an estimated days more than months for CBI to process their kits Gordon announced at the signing ceremony Tuesday that she didn t expect the decree to upshot when she testified nearly six months ago But the new law helped her find a silver lining in all of this and ensure my assault didn t happen in vain It isn t necessarily exactly justice but it s a form of justice for me Gordon commented It does feel really good to be a part of making this awful experience not so awful for the people after me Colorado s rape kit backlog exploded following revelations in that former CBI analyst Yvonne Missy Woods manipulated the results of more than DNA tests But even before that outrage casualties had to wait more than days for CBI to analyze their forensic exams three times the state s goal of days News of the backlog drew sharp attention from legislators In February lawmakers approved a plan to give CBI more time to spend money earmarked to sort through the Woods shame along with explicit permission to use the money to work through the backlog Members of the legislature also slammed CBI for a track record of failing to deliver justice to the people of Colorado and called for an audit of the agency Sen Mike Weissman an Aurora Democrat and sponsor of SB- noted he and co-sponsor Rep Jenny Willford will keep working to improve turnaround times for casualties and quicken how fast sexual predators face justice That includes working on mid-year budget requests and if the governor calls a special session to deal with federal spending cuts including the backlog as topics the legislature can address We are not done nowadays Weissman disclosed at the bill signing Polis noted his goal is to get the turnaround time for rape kits down to days CBI representatives near the end of the legislative session and after the budget had been set estimated it would cost an extra million per year to staff up enough to reach that goal It would also take years for CBI to train new hires functionaries announced Polis has called the backlog inexcusable and revealed his office prioritized fixing it as soon as representatives learned about it But he and his staff have not mentioned when Polis learned about the backlog despite multiple requests Petitioned Tuesday how the backlog reflected on his administration and if he took responsibility for it Polis commented that he sought tools from the legislature to address it as soon as he learned of it His staff has pointed to the spending extension and expansion request for the CBI s money earmarked for the Woods embarrassment It s totally unacceptable Polis noted in response to the question Tuesday When we revealed out about the backlog we at once requested materials This is a reserve question It was not something the executive branch could solve alone without guidance Related Articles Colorado increases number of young people who can held in pre-trial detention in emergencies Gov Jared Polis signs new kratom regulations after behind-the-scenes fight on agenda El Paso Weld counties along with Aurora are removed from DHS s list of immigration sanctuary jurisdictions In wake of Aurora apartment saga Colorado lawmakers expand cities power to investigate slumlords Gov Jared Polis vetoes bill that would have banned algorithm that White House declared drove up Denver rents Willford the Northglenn Democrat who co-sponsored SB- called the new law urgent for every survivor who is still waiting in the dark It is also personal for her Willford noted she was sexually assaulted by a ride-hailing driver in a development that was also caught in the backlog of DNA testing She sponsored a bill earlier this year that would have increased vetting requirements for drivers at companies like Uber and Lyft only for Polis to veto it Polis wrote in his veto letter that he worried the bill would consequence in ride-hailing companies leaving the state as Uber threatened to do Willford stated Tuesday that she was still processing both events Polis signing the law aiming to eliminate the rape kit backlog and his veto of the bill intended to increase safety for drivers and passengers of ride-hailing companies She also lingered on Polis response to the backlog and the need for Gordon to publicly testify in order to draw attention to it It was frustrating that he hasn t reported I m sorry to survivors Willford disclosed that they ve been in a backlog that was created on his watch and it s frustrating that survivors had to clean up the mess Stay up-to-date with Colorado Politics by signing up for our weekly newsletter The Spot