Florida Gov. Scott budgets $10.7M for rape kit testing

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — To combat a backlog of more than 13,000 rape kits languishing untested in state and local labs, Florida Gov. Rick Scott appropriated $10.7 million his latest budget to speed up the testing process.

Along with the budget increase, a new law requiring rape kits be tested within 120 days should help future cases, State Attorney Phil Archer said.

“We want to give comfort to the victims so they know we take these cases very seriously,” he said. “(The 120-day requirement) gives us that evidence that we may need in that prosecution of the case, and secondly it helps create information in that database.”

About $4 million of the governor’s budget appropriation will go toward paying to hire and keep lab analysts, which will be important in the future, Secretary of State Pam Bondi said.

“We have to look long range,” she said. “We have got to pay our analysts more money down the road. We have got to.”

The budget also gives $2.3 million for testing kits currently backlogged, and $3.5 million to pay for overtime, training and new technology.

Cox Media Group