During the 2016 Legislative Session, Attorney General Pam Bondi helped secure millions of state dollars to begin testing Florida’s unprocessed sexual assault kits. In September of 2015, Attorney General Bondi called for the testing of Florida’s unprocessed kits, and several months later an assessment found more than 13,400 unprocessed kits statewide.

Working with law enforcement, lawmakers and victim advocates to address this important public safety issue, Attorney General Bondi helped secure an initial $2.3 million dollars for the testing of Florida’s thousands of unprocessed sexual assault kits, and paved the way for private labs to assist. The legislature also allocated funds for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to raise the wages of lab analysts to reduce turnover, purchase new forensic testing equipment and upgrade existing lab equipment.

This multipronged approach is vital to processing Florida’s untested kits expediently, while also providing state labs with the resources needed to continue testing new forensic evidence. Attorney General Bondi’s goal of testing these kits is clear, and with the newly allocated funding, the state will be able to achieve this goal in the near future.

• News Release: Attorney General Bondi Commits Broad Support for Testing Unprocessed Sexual Assault Kits in Florida
• News Conference: The Florida Channel: Press Conference on Unprocessed Sexual Assault Kits
• Editorial: The Miami Herald: Clearing the Backlog
• Guest Column: Florida Times-Union Testing Rape Kits is an Issue of Public Safety
• Editorial: Bondi makes right call on rape kits
• Guest Column: The News Press: Eliminating the Backlog of Sexual Assault Kits
• Viewpoint: Pensacola News Journal: Stop Rapists, Molesters

• News Release: Attorney General Bondi’s Statement on Arrest Related to New Sexual Assault Kit Testing

• News Release: State Tests 2,323 Previously Unprocessed Sexual Assault Kits
• News Release: 1,814 Previously Unprocessed Sexual Assault Kits Tested as State Moves to Eliminate Backlog