State Attorney Candidate Calls On Jacksonville Lawmakers To Prioritize Unprocessed Rape Kits

WJCT News | By Cyd Hoskinson

Published July 23, 2015 at 1:38 PM EDT

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Northeast Florida State Attorney candidate Wes White says the unprocessed rape kits, some of which are 20-years-old, need "to be done today."

Northeast Florida State Attorney candidate Wes White called on Duval County leaders and lawmakers Thursday to find the money to process some 2,000 rape kits that have sat on the shelf for as long as 20 years.

“The issue is: it needs to be done today,” White said. “I don’t know any other crimes against persons where someone says, 'Well, we’re going to wait until we get funding to take care of it.'”

White says it costs around $800 to process the DNA collected from a rape victim.

The state attorney’s office announced recently that it has applied for a $2 million federal grant to process the untested rape kits and get the evidence entered into the national DNA database.