SAN ANTONIO – Thousands of untested rape kits may soon be dusted off the shelves as testing and funding across the country will nearly double.
The reauthorization of the Debbie Smith Act will increase funding from $50 million to $94 million.
"Going through a forensics exam, (it's a) daunting and evasive process. It's important that they have trust in the system," said Chloe Power of the Rape Crisis Center.
Power said there's always been a backlog, but it became a bigger issue three years ago.
"There is a backlog in Texas that we have been dealing with since the Senate passed (Senate Bill 1636) in 2011. Texas was dealing with 16,000 kits that had gone untested," Power said.
Senate Bill 1636 forced law enforcement to review previous cases where testing was not done.
"Some of the reasons previously a kit would not be tested would be something in the instance, where a victim did not want to cooperate and decided that they didn't want to file charges or something of that nature," said San Antonio Police Department Officer Misty Floyd.
Since 2011, though, and not counting previous cases in need of review, SAPD has had no issue keeping up with testing.
"Since then, San Antonio has stayed up to date and they have a 30-day window to get it tested, and the crime lab has been able to keep up," Floyd said.
Power said getting the proper funding will send a message to victims, help in the healing process and validate the system in place to protect them.