Federal cash is headed to North Carolina to keep sexual-assault evidence from sitting on lab shelves again. On Monday, lawmakers announced that the U.S. Department of Justice is sending the state more than $2 million to speed up rape kit testing and strengthen the systems that track and process those kits. Officials are pitching the grant as a way to keep turnaround times short, support follow-up investigations, and avoid repeating the massive backlog that once haunted the state.
Rep. Deborah Ross announced the award Monday, according to WCNC. The outlet reports that the money is earmarked to help process previously collected kits and to bolster the infrastructure that keeps them moving, including lab capacity, tracking systems, and victim notification.
How the grant works
The Department of Justice typically routes this type of support through the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, which funds testing, multidisciplinary investigative teams, CODIS uploads, and victim-notification protocols, according to the Bureau of Justice Assistance. Those SAKI grants often pay for outsourcing lab work, hiring investigators and prosecutors, and providing training that is meant to make testing and resulting prosecutions sustainable for the long haul.
Where North Carolina stands
North Carolina has spent years chipping away at a rape kit backlog that once numbered in the tens of thousands. The Attorney General’s office announced in April 2024 that the backlog had been eliminated. According to the North Carolina Department of Justice, as of April 2024 roughly 11,841 kits had been tested or were in process, about 5,075 samples had been entered into the CODIS database, and those entries produced more than 2,700 matches. Law enforcement agencies reported around 114 arrests tied to those hits. “Today is a great day: North Carolina has ended the rape kit backlog,” Attorney General Josh Stein said in the department’s April 9, 2024 release.
Testing is only the first step
Advocates and local prosecutors note that a CODIS match is more like the starting whistle than the finish line. A hit can mean fresh investigative work, renewed outreach to survivors, and detailed prosecutorial review before any case moves forward. Resource limits in police departments and district attorneys’ offices can slow that downstream work, according to reporting from WECT.
Resources for survivors
Survivors who need help or information can contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-HOPE (800-656-4673) for 24/7, confidential support, per RAINN. State and local victim-service agencies can also help with updates on kit status, counseling, and legal options as testing and investigations continue.
