As the Colorado Bureau of Investigation works to reduce its backlog of untested sexual assault evidence and increase turnaround times, state lawmakers are considering whether the effort needs an outside coordinator.
Senate Bill 304 would create an independent position to keep track of how quickly CBI is processing sexual assault DNA evidence kits. The measure would also put into law a goal of turning around sexual assault evidence kits in no more than 60 days — three times faster than the current guideline of 180 days.
The proposal cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously on Wednesday, but CBI has concerns that it doesn’t include additional resources to achieve its goals.
With the turnaround time for DNA testing stretching to a year and a half on average, there are currently 1,424 reported victims in sexual assault cases still awaiting their results, leaving many in a painful limbo with their criminal cases essentially stalled.
“This whole thing has honestly been pretty harrowing, just to be adjacent to it,” said Democratic Sen. Mike Weissman of Aurora, the bill’s main sponsor. “Thankfully I’m not a survivor but I know too many in my life who are.”
The coordinator would work with CBI to track the status of processing times and report back to lawmakers twice a year. The position would be supported by a $150,000 grant from the state and contingent on the legislature for funding each year.
Under a change to the Victim Rights Act, victims would also get updates from law enforcement on their DNA test every 90 days.
CBI has apologized to victims and survivors and hired an outside firm to sort out what’s caused the wait time for results to balloon so significantly. The bureau has blamed the situation on a number of staff taking leave, coupled with fallout from the case of former forensic scientist Missy “Yvonne” Woods who is accused of manipulating DNA results for decades.
Staff retention and the extensive training required before DNA forensic scientists can begin processing cases has left state labs short staffed and lagging way behind Colorado’s recommended 180-day processing time. But even that guideline isn’t fast enough for some lawmakers.
“I don’t know anyone involved in this space who would consider that worth aspiring to,” said Weissman. “I think 60 days is worth aspiring to.”
But Colorado’s Department of Public Safety estimates reaching that goal would take an additional 17 employees and $3.1 million from the state.
“Sixty days is not a number we find unreasonable. (But) sixty days is a number we can’t get to without more resources,” said Joel Malecka, the Director of Government Affairs for the department.
CBI Deputy Director Lance Allen agreed that it’s not feasible under current funding.
“We would love to get there as well. Everyone in the lab wants to get this done well and quickly,” he added. “We just don’t have the capacity to achieve that.”
Instead, the bureau has pledged to get down to a 90-day turnaround time by the spring of 2027. CBI has sent nearly a third of its backlogged sexual assault evidence kits to outside labs for testing, with the goal of getting through the backlog by the end of the year.
At the hearing for Senate Bill 308, lawmakers in both parties expressed skepticism about the Bureau’s handling of the situation.
Republican Sen. Lisa Frizell said she doesn’t feel like CBI has shown a true recognition of the pain and troubles caused by what she sees as significant management issues. She said she worries about victims who are left without answers and the ability to move forward.
“I also worry that we have people who have committed horrible crimes walking around and perhaps committing additional horrible crimes," said Frizell, "and I find that to be completely unacceptable.”
Allen acknowledged that lawmakers have reasons for their distrust.
As Colorado moves to tackle the backlog, Elizabeth Newman, public policy director for the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault, said she’s hopeful that the common refrain that ‘what gets measured is what gets improved’ holds in this case.
She said 63 percent of sexual assaults don’t even get reported, so important to have more transparency about those that are.
”Because there is no tracking, measurement, or transparency in this issue, it is allowed to grow,” she said. “It’s devastating to survivors and hurts public trust.”
