North Texas agencies get funding for DNA backlog
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North Texas will receive $2.3 million in grants from the federal government to address its backlog of unprocessed sexual assault kits and speed up crime scene analysis, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) announced yesterday.
Why it matters: Police in Dallas and Fort Worth have struggled historically with their backlogs of sexual assault kits, prolonging court cases and delaying closure for survivors.
The latest: The U.S. Department of Justice will allocate roughly $982,000 to Dallas County, $469,000 to Tarrant County, $407,000 to the city of Fort Worth and $486,000 to UNT Health Fort Worth, per Cornyn's office.
State of DNA: Dallas County's funds will help the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences transition to rapid DNA testing in hopes of cutting turnaround times and identifying suspects more quickly.
- Fort Worth's funding will allow the Police Department to outsource its DNA evidence to an accredited lab for further analysis, per DOJ documents.
- UNT Health's Center for Human Identification hopes to complete around 150 of its pending cases with the new funding, per the DOJ documents. The center serves Tarrant County and other neighboring counties while also supporting the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Zoom out: The Dallas County district attorney's office has also received a separate $500,000 grant from DOJ for an additional prosecutor and victim advocate for the office's sexual assault division.
- "Survivors in Dallas County deserve to be heard, believed, and protected," Dallas County DA John Creuzot said in a statement.