Officials to discuss reducing untested rape kit backlog

Published 12:55 am Sunday, December 13, 2015

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) — Law enforcement officials are gathering in Huntington to discuss how to use grants to eliminate the backlog of untested sexual assault kits in West Virginia.

The meeting Friday at the Marshall University Forensic Science Center was arranged by U.S. Rep. Evan Jenkins, who will join via Skype from Washington, D.C.

Representatives of the Forensic Science Center, the West Virginia State Police, the Cabell County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and the Division of Justice and Community Services are scheduled to attend. Victim advocates also will participate.

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The state recently received a nearly $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative.