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Colorado legislature creates grant program to tackle sexual assault kit delays

By Marissa Ventrelli June 4, 2025 | updated 2 months ago

Gov. Jared Polis on Tuesday signed a bill to address the growing backlog of sexual assault kit testing in the state. 

Senate Bill 304, sponsored by Sen. Mike Weissman, D-Aurora, and Reps. Jenny Willford, D-Northglenn, and Meg Froelich, D-Englewood, creates a grant program to pay for an independent sexual assault coordinator at the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. The coordinator would provide annual reports to the legislature on the state’s capacity to complete sexual assault kit tests. 

The bill also requires law enforcement agencies to notify sexual assault victims at least once every 90 days if they have not yet received the results of their sexual assault kit and requires crime labs to “endeavor” to analyze forensic medical evidence within 60 days of receipt. 

SB 304 also sets up a “Sexual Assault Forensic Medical Evidence Review Board” within the Department of Law.

The board’s charge would be to “review and monitor the effectiveness of current protocols, standards, and training practices in the criminal legal system response to sexual assault.” It would also be required to make victim-centered recommendations to the General Assembly by Nov. 1, 2026 on improvements and in accordance with the federal Violence Against Women Act of 1994.

“Everyone who has experienced sexual assault deserves justice and this new law moves us closer to ensuring that,” Polis said. “I thank the bill sponsors for their work to address this urgent situation and help hold perpetrators accountable.”

Willford, who claims she was sexually assaulted by a Lyft driver in February 2024, brought the CBI’s sexual assault backlog to the attention of the legislature.

More than a year later, she said her rape kit is still awaiting testing, and it could be months before she gets results — the average waiting time for rape kit testing in Colorado is more than 500 days.

SB 304 is one of three bills passed this legislative session that seek to address issues within CBI related to the misconduct allegations tied to Yvonne “Missy” Woods, a nearly 30-year employee of the investigation lab accused of deleting data and manipulating DNA evidence in more than 1,000 instances.

Those errors are estimated to have cost CBI more than $11 million. Woods has been indicted on 102 felony charges.

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