Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill into law Tuesday launching new efforts to cut down on the state’s delays in processing sexual assault evidence kits, including by increasing oversight over the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
This story was produced as part of the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. It first appeared at kunc.org.
Currently, it takes 554 days for the CBI to process DNA evidence kits from sexual assaults, which has left 1,369 cases in limbo as victims and investigators wait for results, according to the agency’s latest available data.One of those victims is Democratic state Rep. Jenny Willford of Northglenn, the leading lawmaker behind the new bill.
Willford says she was sexually assaulted over a year ago and filed a police report. But her case was one of the many swallowed up by the backlog.
“Living this reality is really heavy,” said Willford at the bill signing ceremony Tuesday. “It’s disorienting and it’s dehumanizing. It’s like being frozen in time while the rest of the world moves on without you. And no survivor should ever be made to feel this way ever, because that’s not justice.”
Law enforcement finally issued an arrest warrant for Willford’s alleged attacker last month, more than a year after the incident, after they received the test results from her evidence.The new law is named the “Miranda Gordon Justice for Survivors Act of 2025.” Gordon is a vocal advocate for sexual assault victims who helped call attention to the backlog, after waiting more than a year for the results of her own sexual assault evidence kit.
The measure, Senate Bill 304, directs the attorney general’s office to create the Colorado Sexual Assault Forensic Medical Review Board to oversee kit processing and make recommendations for how the state can better address sexual crimes.
State Rep. Jenny Willford, D-Northglenn, speaks to reporters before Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill into law at the governor’s mansion in downtown Denver on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (Jesse Paul, The Colorado Sun)The group will convene by Aug. 1 and will be made up of sexual assault victim advocates, medical forensic experts and members of law enforcement.
The law also creates a 60-day turnaround goal per DNA evidence kit, three times faster than the state’s current 180-day guidance.
Polis said he would like to see even faster turnaround times.
“We always appreciate some room in statute to achieve as much as we can, but my goal would be to turn the tests around in even quicker than 60 days,” Polis said.
Sexual assault victims will also be entitled to updates on their pending evidence kits every 90 days under the new law.Speaking at Tuesday’s signing ceremony, Democratic Sen. Mike Weissman of Aurora, the measure’s lead sponsor in the Senate, said the bill is about getting sexual assault perpetrators off the street as well as justice for victims.
State Sen. Mike Weissman, D-Aurora, speaks to reporters before Gov. Jared Polis signed bills into law at the governor’s mansion in downtown Denver on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (Jesse Paul, The Colorado Sun)“We can get lost in processes and abstract terms like ‘kits,’ but what we’re talking about here is bringing forward evidence by which we can arrest people who have committed hideous crimes and subject them to appropriate consequences,” said Weissman. “Without moving through this backlog, we don’t have that evidence, there cannot be accountability.”
Weissman said he and Willford plan to continue to work on speeding up the backlog reduction during the legislative interim and bring further ideas to the 2026 legislative session. He also suggested the General Assembly could take up the issue during a special legislative session should one be convened in the coming months.
This story was produced by the Capitol News Alliance, a collaboration between KUNC News, Colorado Public Radio, Rocky Mountain PBS and The Colorado Sun, and shared with Rocky Mountain Community Radio and other news organizations across the state. Funding for the Alliance is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
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