<\/p>\n
Staff illustration; iStock photo<\/p>\n
Mel Fronczek<\/p>\n
People applying for or renewing their Texas driver\u2019s license<\/a> understand the routine of filling out the application’s typical fields \u2013 name, date of birth, sex, height, weight, race and ethnicity, address.<\/p>\n Then come the check boxes. Between the boxes about organ donor status and medical history, Texans might notice a couple questions asking if they would like to donate as little as $1 to various causes, including veterans assistance, blindness screening and rape kit testing.<\/p>\n Ginger Gatling wrote in to Curious Texas<\/a> wanting to know more: \u201cWhen you renew your Texas driver’s license, you are given an opportunity to donate money to help clear the rape kit backlog. I haven’t been able to find out if this task is actually being done or what the result is.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. experience sexual violence each year, yet few perpetrators serve time in jail or prison, advocates<\/a> say. Rape kits can help by preserving physical evidence of an assault. DNA evidence can strengthen cases against perpetrators, said Ilse Knecht, director of policy and advocacy at the Joyful Heart Foundation. The foundation runs the national End the Backlog<\/a> campaign.<\/p>\n DNA evidence is recorded in national databases, which have proven instrumental in solving years-old assaults by repeat offenders who committed a new crime, Knecht said.<\/p>\n Yet the longer a rape kits goes untested, the higher possibility evidence samples can degrade if not stored properly. Also, statutes of limitations can expire, though in Texas there is no time limit<\/a> for prosecuting most criminal categories of sexual assault. The civil statute is more narrow.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile that kit was sitting on a shelf, if it had been tested earlier, this other woman would still be alive,\u201d she said. \u201cThese are usually serial criminals. The longer it takes, the more time they have to victimize and cause harm.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n A 2009 study<\/a> by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics found that 51% of suspected rape perpetrators referred to prosecutors had at least one prior conviction of any kind, and 37% had at least one prior felony conviction.<\/p>\n Additionally, survivors bear a heavy emotional toll from assaults and subsequent legal proceedings, which can be made worse by delays in processing evidence.<\/p>\n \u201cAll the time elapsing and waiting can make survivors think, \u2018They don\u2019t believe me,\u2019 or that what happened to them doesn\u2019t matter to anyone,\u201d Knecht said.<\/p>\n To understand the backlog, it\u2019s important to know the steps a rape kit goes through before analysis is completed. Texas code on sexual assault prevention and crisis services<\/a> outlines four broad steps:<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The initial collection of evidence during a forensic medical examination House Bill 8, passed in 2019 during Texas\u2019 86th legislative session, mandated two key deadlines for the rape kit analysis process: A law enforcement agency must submit the kit to a lab within 30 days of receiving it, and the lab has 90 days to complete analysis.<\/p>\n The state considers a rape kit backlogged if either of those deadlines were missed. However, some law enforcement agencies consider kits backlogged if they were collected before the deadlines took effect.<\/p>\n Advocates have praised the mandated time limits between steps as an important measure in rape kit reform<\/a>, but they came with inadvertent consequences. Some law enforcement agencies and crime labs with heavy caseloads have had to deprioritize testing older rape kits that aren\u2019t beholden to the deadlines, according to police departments\u2019 grant applications obtained by The Dallas Morning News. In its 2021 application, the City of Dallas stated there were more than 2,000 such kits sitting untested without any deadline, some dating back 10 years.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Former state Rep. Victoria Neave, D-Dallas, told KERA<\/a> in 2017 that backlogged rape kits numbered well into the tens of thousands across the state. At the time, she was sponsoring House Bill 1729, which would establish the program to accept donations from anyone applying for an original or renewal of a Texas driver\u2019s license, ID or commercial driver\u2019s license. She told KERA she expected the bill to generate $1 million a year to address the issue.<\/p>\n The 85th Texas Legislature passed the bill, and in 2018 the donation option was added to the driver\u2019s license form.<\/p>\n The donations go into a pool for the Sexual Assault Evidence Testing Grant Program<\/a> administered by the governor\u2019s office. From there, law enforcement agencies can apply for funding from the grant program. Law enforcement agencies can use the funds for equipment and labor costs associated with processing and testing rape kits and for entering relevant information into the federal DNA database CODIS.<\/p>\n The program\u2019s funding source \u2014 everyday Texans \u2014 sets it apart from federal grant programs, which have been frozen or cut<\/a> in recent years.<\/p>\n According to Texas Department of Public Safety records obtained by\u00a0The News, more than $8.2 million has been donated to rape kit testing through the driver\u2019s license application<\/a><\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Grant application records show more than $5.8 million of the donation pool had been distributed as of April. D-FW area law enforcement agencies have received a total of $1,406,600 from the fund:<\/p>\n 2019: Dallas County received $234,000. The cities of Dallas and Fort Worth applied for additional funds for the 2026-27 grant cycle \u2014 $1,250,670 and $400,000, respectively. Applications for this grant cycle are under review.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n There seems to be no standard amount for how expensive it is to test a single rape kit, based on The News\u2019 review of seven grant applications from the Dallas and Fort Worth police departments. Each application, even for the same agency, listed a different cost-per-kit estimate based on its resources \u2014 lab equipment, personnel, the need to outsource testing to a third-party crime lab \u2014 at the time of the application. Throughout the applications, estimates ranged from about $1,500 to $2,350 per kit.<\/p>\n The number of evidence pieces in a kit can also affect the cost of processing and testing. The contents of a rape kit can include swabs of different parts of the body, hairs, fingernail clippings, clothing, bedding and photos of injuries.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\nReceipt and storage at a law enforcement agency
\nReceipt and analysis at an accredited crime laboratory
\nStorage and destruction after analysis<\/p>\n
\n2020: The City of Fort Worth received $200,000.
\n2021: The City of Dallas received $274,100. Fort Worth received $200,000.
\n2023: Dallas received $248,500.
\n2025: Fort Worth received $250,000.<\/p>\n