'Great results' from Georgia's new sex assault kit tracking system

ATLANTA - Tuesday marks two months since Georgia launched a new online tracking system for sexual assault evidence kits.

State legislators passed The Sexual Assault Reform Act of 2021 in March of last year. The law required the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council to set up the tracking system so that victims, advocates, and law enforcement can log in and check the status of evidence in sex assault cases.

"We've seen some great results so far," explained Amy Hutsell, program director for the CJCC's Sexual Assault, Child Abuse and Human Trafficking Unit. "Our biggest impact, I think is that we have sent a really strong message to victims and survivors in this state that we care about them."

The online portal officially launched on June 30. Now, every sexual assault evidence kit in the state comes with a tracking number and victims are assigned a PIN so that they can log into the website.

"The sexual assault kit tracking system really builds on the work that the state has done in a bipartisan manner since 2016," said state Rep. Scott Holcomb, D-Atlanta, the main sponsor of the legislation. "What was critically important was to make the process as transparent as possible for victims. For all too long it wasn't. In fact, they were really left behind. You had kits just sitting on shelves without being tested."

Back in 2016, state lawmakers approved another bill by Rep. Holcomb to require law enforcement to turn over any previously untested rape kits after the discovery that thousands had never been taken to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for analysis.

That law also required officers to pick up evidence kits from hospitals or other providers within 3 days and submit them to the GBI for testing within 30 days.

State officials announced in November 2018 that the more than 3,500 "warehoused" kits had been processed.

Rep. Holcomb said the new tracking system is designed to prevent evidence from languishing in the future.

"The goal was really twofold. We wanted one, to increase transparency and then two, we wanted a system where we could actually track what was happening to make sure there is never a backlog again and to make sure the evidence is tested in a timely manner," Rep. Holcomb explained.

The new law also requires the CJCC to draft a report for the governor and state lawmakers by December 31 each year detailing the number of sexual assault kits used, the average time it takes law enforcement agencies to pick them up from healthcare providers and how many the GBI lab has processed.

"It's a great first start to have the accountability in the system and for victims to believe it's actually worth reporting," said Marina Sampanes Peed, executive director and CEO of Mosaic Georgia.

Mosaic is a sexual assault center and children's advocacy center in Gwinnett County that provides forensic medical exams for patients who have been assaulted. Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners, or SANEs, collect hair, DNA and other evidence to then turn over to the crime lab for testing.

Peed's organization was one of six across the state to take part in a pilot program beginning in October 2021 to test the state's evidence tracking portal. She said so far, they have about 180 in the system.

"We can track every kit and where it is. If it's still with the law enforcement, if it's been sent to the GBI, if the GBI has done the analysis," said Peed. "So, it doesn't give the results of any of it, but it really helps to see where that is going and that's so important because if someone has the courage to actually disclose what happened, and usually it's by somebody they know, then to have the system start to support that is huge."

The new website also includes information about resources for survivors of sexual assault. You can learn more at svrga.org.