Gov. Scott signs law to stop growing backlog of untested rape kits

Florida has found a solution to stopping the growing, and massive, backlog of untested rape kits.

Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill into law Wednesday, which requires rape kits to be tested within 120 days of arriving at a crime lab.

State Rep. Janet Adkins (R-Fernandina Beach) championed the cause after a report was released detailing a backlog of more than 13,000 untested rape kits in Florida last summer.

"When these victims do not receive justice, there is an emotional cost to these victims," Adkins told WOKV. "We're not going to build on that backlog and we're not going to let that backlog happen again."

SB 636, a Senate companion of Adkins' House bill, does not address the current backlog. Gov. Scott did, however, approve $10.7 million in the Florida budget for crime labs to eliminate the existing backlog of rape kits. Adkins believes eliminating the backlog will take up to three years.

The proposals were widely supported in both chambers of the Florida legislature.

"This legislation will provide thousands of women with a renewed sense of safety and closure as they heal from the horrific crime of rape," Gov. Scott said in a statement.

A report released by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement claimed it cost tax payers $32 million to eliminate the rape kit backlog, and more than eight years to complete.

The FDLE study cost $300,000 and discovered the following backlog of rape kits in NE Florida:

1,302 kits in the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office
21 kits in the Jacksonville Beach Police Department
3 kits in the Neptune Beach Police Department
2 kits in the Clay County Sheriff's Office
16 kits in the Atlantic Beach Police Department
6 kits in the Baker County Sheriff's Office
6 kits in the Nassau County Sheriff's Office
4 kits in the St. Augustine Police Department
1 kit by the University of North Florida Police Department