Report calls S.C. sexual assault kit tracking system ‘inefficient’

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - The South Carolina General Assembly’s Legislative Audit Council conducted an audit of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division’s sexual assault kit tracking system and found that improvements need to be made.

SLED’s tracking system, which is called Track-Kit, allows sexual assault survivors to track kits submitted to the division from distribution, to collection, to processing, to storage. It also allows them to view the location and status of their kits.

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Officials with LAC said SLED implemented the tracking system late, having launched Track-Kit on Feb. 20, 2024, almost 21 months past the June 1, 2022, deadline required by state law. They also said SLED did not adequately communicate with other agencies and only held two task force meetings regarding the system.

Legislators also pointed out that SLED’s Track-Kit database was incomplete with only 763 total kits in the system as of July 1, 2024, and 1,987 kits pending testing at SLED’s laboratory as of October 2023.

The audit also revealed some larger trends regarding sexual assault kits, specifically that the number of sexual assault nurse examiners in South Carolina is lacking.

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The audit also noted South Carolina does not require a specific time frame for any stage of sexual assault kit processing, meaning the wait times for kit results in the Palmetto State are longer than most other states.

The Legislative Audit Council said it came to these conclusions after surveying system s, law enforcement, medical facilities, forensic laboratories and sexual assault nurse examiners.

“South Carolina’s sexual assault statistics and Track-Kit data show that the current system of investigating sexual assault offenses is inefficient,” the summary report states. “Justice is being delayed or denied for victims, many of whom are under the age of 18.”