Prior to 2016, law enforcement agencies in Idaho weren't required to track the number of sexual assault kits they collected or report how many went untested.
This caused the percentage of tested kits to vary widely among different police departments in the state, with the untested kits — some decades old — sitting on shelves after being collected. The untested kits an immense backlog in some agencies.
Now, nearly four years after the Idaho Legislature passed legislation to hold law enforcement more accountable for ensuring rape kits are tested in a specific and timely manner, a group of Boise State University researchers are examining the effects of that legislation.
