"What are these boxes?"
Representative Tina Orwall, D-Des Moines, remembers asking that question while touring an evidence room back in 2015. Stacked from floor to ceiling she saw sexual assault kits, the majority of which were sitting untested.
By the end of 2018, more than 10,000 kits filled the state backlog, according to data provided to KING 5.
The Washington State Patrol crime lab is currently working to reduce the backlog of sexual assault kits, but Captain Monica Alexander says additional staff and updated equipment is desperately needed.
"Right now our crime lab is not able to do a lot of property crime, investigate those because we have to focus on getting rid of this backlog," said Washington State Patrol Captain Monica Alexander. "Our scientists are looking at how is that ever going to happen for us."
Hundreds of new rape kits from across the state are submitted to the crime lab every month, a number higher than the lab's current staff can complete. In some circumstances, more kits are actually added to the backlog each month.
Orwall might just have the solution. She is the primary sponsor of HB 1166 which was unanimously approved on Friday and is now headed to the state Senate for consideration.
"We need to be able to test every kit within 45 days, we need to go and finish testing all the backlog within the next two years and to do that we need to give the state patrol the resources they need to create the labs we've seen in other states that have actually gotten rid of their backlog and done it in a very rapid manner," Orwall described the bill.
HB 1166 will help by hiring additional scientists and purchasing new equipment. The bill also and calls for $7.5 million over the next two years and another $5 million the following two years.
If the bill clears the Senate and is signed by Governor Inslee, the backlog could be completely cleared by 2020.
The state's ability to process rape kits has been slow. Last year, the Attorney General's Office found that 6,460 sexual assault kits were booked as evidence but weren't submitted to the lab for testing.
Many of the kits have been sitting in a storage facility for years, according to the Attorney General’s Office. The oldest untested kit was from 1982.
In February, the Associated Press reported that a rape kit in Seattle went untested for 12 years.
Washington state patrol said it was taking over 500 days to test lower priority kits and several months to test higher priority ones.
For more information on Washington's rape kit backlog visit End the Backlog's website.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please call The National Sexual Assault Hotlineat 800.656.HOPE (4673) where trained professionals can provide confidential support, help you find a local healthcare facility that's trained to care for survivors, connect you with local resources and provide legal information.