Grant money to help Dallas County test rape kit backlog
Dallas County will get federal help to erase its backlog of untested rape kits.
The county has more than 4,000 rape kits submitted from various law enforcement agencies that are sitting and waiting to be tested
Commissioners approved and accepted a grant of nearly $1.6 million from the federal government to be used to expedite testing on those kits.
“It’s one of those items that is just among the myriad of things that a county does, but I’m just very proud and we'll be watching also to make sure the rape kits in Dallas County get tested,” said Dallas County Commissioner Dr. Theresa Daniel. “So thank you DA's office for keeping on top of that.”
The federal grant will allow an additional 65 rape kits to be tested each week and could potentially lead to hundreds of new sex assault cases if suspects are identified from the DNA samples secured in the rape kits.
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