More than half of the untested sexual assault kits recently accounted for in law enforcement evidence lockers across North Carolina have now been tested or are awaiting testing at private labs, Attorney General Josh Stein said on Tuesday.

Giving an update with legislators on the implementation of a 2019 law that set aside $6 million to test many of the kits, Stein said whittling down the backlog has resulted in at least 40 arrests, delivering justice to survivors of sexual assault. Stein said another $9 million is needed from legislators to eliminate the backlog entirely.

“Each kit comes from a person who suffered a terrible trauma and then willingly provided evidence … we owe it to them to test their kits.” Stein said at a Legislative Building news conference. “The General Assembly and law enforcement agencies across the state have made incredible progress in tackling this problem. But we have to keep working together to get across the finish line.”

The problem of untested sexual assault kits sitting in police and sheriff’s offices came to the forefront when Gov. Roy Cooper was attorney general. His department included what is now called the State Crime Laboratory. Cooper said he addressed problems at the lab, and previous backlogs from the 2000s were reduced.

Still, at the direction of legislators in 2017, an audit was performed that ultimately found 16,190 older kits in local law enforcement custody that could be tested.

Stein, a Democrat elected in 2016, said so far nearly 3,000 of these kits have been completely tested and about 5,400 sit in the queues of a private lab vendor, which is seeing testing demand grow nationwide due to other untested kits. More than 1,000 of those tests identified enough DNA to upload samples to a national database, and 45% of those samples landed matches, Stein’s office said in a news release. The arrests related to the tested kits involve at least 58 assaults, as well as other violent crimes.

“It’s one thing to promise to never forget the survivors of sexual assault, but it’s another thing to act on that promise,” Sen. Warren Daniel, a Burke County Republican, told reporters. “We’ve been able to chip away at the backlog and to make numerous arrests in cases that had long thought to be unsolvable.”

Additional money was always going to be needed to eliminate the backlog, but Stein said the need is greater because the state’s price to get a private lab to complete a test has increased by more than 75%. He said the backlog should be fully eliminated by May 2023 if the $9 million is approved.

The State Crime Laboratory, which handles kit testing for current cases by law enforcement agencies free of charge, is seeing a marked increase in kit submissions. Stein wants additional funding so the state lab can hire six additional scientists specializing in DNA testing so that a backlog won’t return. Daniel said lawmakers also are looking at time-saving measures for crime lab scientists so that they can spend more time testing, such as allowing them to testify remotely, rather than in person at courthouses.

Tuesday’s news conference featured a sexual assault survivor, as well as Fayetteville Police Chief Gina Hawkins, whose agency received federal grants to tests previously unsubmitted tests in their custody. The police chief said efforts to seek justice won’t end.

“However long the cases are, we want to tell you we will not stop working until the victims are treated as if they were ourselves,” Hawkins said.

Lead photo via North Carolina Justice Academy.

 

Related Stories
‹
On the Porch: Dr. James Wood - Sports Around the World
This Week: James Wood is currently Professor of Latin American and modern world history at North Carolina A&T State University. He is the author of The Society of Equality: Popular Republicanism and Democracy in Santiago de Chile, 1818-1851 and the co-editor of "Problems in Modern Latin American History: Sources and Interpretations", now in its fifth edition with Rowman and Littlefield. As a Fulbright scholar for Chile in 2016 he was a visiting professor at the Universidad Diego Portales in Santiago (where he observed Chilean student activism up close).
On the Porch: Bill Brown - Art and Science Merge at NCMA
This Week: Bill Brown joined the North Carolina Museum of Art as a Conservation Intern in 1988. Thirty-two years later he retired from the Art Museum as Chief Conservator.  He received his M.A. and Certificate of Advanced Studies in Conservation from State University College at Buffalo, NY in 1989. At the Museum, he established the Art + Science Initiative, a collaborative program with Duke University math and science departments. Bill has a passion for Italian Old Master Paintings of the 14th to 18th century. He works part-time as a conservator in private practice and provides conservation support for the Museum and Gallery collection of old master paintings at Bob Jones University in Greenville, SC . He enjoys retirement with his wife and young adult son.
On the Porch: Nora Gaskin - Conjuring Crime Stories
This Week: Author Nora Gaskin is a lifelong resident of the Durham-Chapel Hill area. Her latest is novel is "Lammie Loves Cubby". Nora has a bachelor’s degree in English with Honors in Creative Writing from UNC, and a Masters in English from the University of Washington in Seattle. She spent over 24 years as a stockbroker and financial advisor in the Durham office of a major investment firm. She retired in 2005 to focus on writing. She is the publisher at Lystra Books and Literary Services and the author of three novels and one nonfiction book. She lives and writes in Chatham County, inspired by her native landscape, her husband, and dogs. Her favorite word is "gratitude."
Therapy Smarts and Sen. Natalie Murdock on How HB696 Impacts Children and Families — On Air Today (June 15, 2026)
Founder and CEO of Therapy Smarts Avani Shah and N.C. District 20 Sen. Natalie Murdock speak with 97.9 The Hill on Monday, June 15.
On the Porch: Steven Fenberg - What Funded America's Infrastructure?
This Week: Writer Steven Fenberg discovered Jesse Jones was reputedly the most powerful person in the nation next to President Franklin Roosevelt during the Great Depression and World War II. As chairman of the federal government’s Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC)—the nation’s indispensable infrastructure bank—Jones initiated and managed massive New Deal agencies that saved and expanded the nation’s economy and then shifted the RFC’s priority from domestic economics to global defense to fight and win WWII. Fenberg told this remarkable story as executive producer and co-writer of the Emmy Award winning documentary film “Brother, Can You Spare a Billion?” that was narrated by Walter Cronkite and broadcast nationally on PBS. Fenberg then wrote the biography “Unprecedented Power: Jesse Jones, Capitalism, and the Common Good.”
Viewpoints: Constitutional Changes Are Rarely Necessary
Constitutional amendments are supposed to be rare. They are supposed to matter. They are meant to alter foundational principles or governmental structure when absolutely necessary. 
On the Porch: Terri Mitchell - Mentoring Women in Tech
This Week: Terri Mitchell is the founder of Accelerate Success, a program to help women develop the confidence, skills, and networks needed to thrive in STEM careers. She is a former IBM executive with more than 30 years of experience in the technology industry. Starting as a graduate of Le Moyne College with a degree in Computer Science, she held leadership roles across hardware, software, and systems businesses, culminating in her role as Vice President and IBM Integration Executive. Following her retirement from IBM in 2018, Terri became a founding member of Triangle Women in STEM and began the Accelerate Success program.
On the Porch: Carl Nordgren - Creativity Can Unite US
This Week: Carl Nordgren is a best-selling novelist, a teacher, and an imaginal cell. After 25 years as an entrepreneur, he taught Creativity at Duke for 14 years. He’s a two-time TEDx speaker and hosts the weekly radio show ‘Exploring your Creative Genius’ on 97.9 The Hill. His calling is to help each of us and all of us grow our creative capacities and develop our entrepreneurial instincts and behaviors, a calling that informed his book "Becoming a Creative Genius (again)". His new book, "Common Ground for US" continues that work and offers new perspectives on governance and policy making for political and community leaders. You can attend his book launch event at Golden Fig Books in Carrboro on June 4, by clicking the show title above.
On the Porch: Tiffany Muller - End Citizens United
This Week: Tiffany Muller is the President of End Citizens United. She has helped grow the group into a nationwide organization with more than 4 million members and 1 million grassroots donors. Before leading End Citizens United, Tiffany was Deputy Political Director at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, where she worked with top Senate races. She also served as chief of staff to two members of Congress, ran a political research firm, and was Vice President of Political Operations at the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund. As a member of the Topeka City Council, she led successful efforts to expand anti-discrimination protections. 
Anderson Clayton on N.C. Democratic Party's General Election Preparation — On Air Today (May 20, 2026)
Chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party Anderson Clayton joins 97.9 The Hill News Director Brighton McConnell on Wednesday, May 20.
›