Tarrant County, the city of Fort Worth and UNT Health Fort Worth received $1.3 million to help them stay on top of forensic DNA testing, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn announced in late April.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s DNA Capacity Enhancement for Backlog Reduction Program funds were authorized through the Debbie Smith Act. The bipartisan law, named for a sexual assault victims’ advocate whose rape was solved using DNA evidence, provides economic support to agencies with backlogs to help jurisdictions stay on top of criminal forensic testing.
Sexual assault kits, also known as rape kits, are sets of evidence collected when victims choose to undergo a forensic examination that collects DNA and other evidence. When they go untested, victims may not see justice done…