Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Legislative auditors find backlog of untested sexual-assault kits, flag oversight gaps at USC incubator and other state programs
Summary
The Legislative Audit Council reported that South Carolina’s State Law Enforcement Division missed deadlines to enroll partners for a DNA kit tracking system and cited questionable spending and weak oversight at the University of South Carolina’s incubator, among other findings and follow-ups.
The Audit Manager, Legislative Audit Council, told a legislative subcommittee that the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) missed a statutory or contractual deadline tied to the state’s sexual-assault kit tracking effort and was roughly 21 months late in completing the work.
The audit manager said the council could not determine the exact number of untested kits or the size of the backlog because SLED could not confirm whether all required entities were enrolled in the tracking system. "SLED said they did the best they could," the Audit Manager said, and noted SLED lacks authority to compel law enforcement agencies, medical facilities and labs to enroll in the system.
The council’s report compared South Carolina to other states and found SLED took longer than about 80% of states surveyed to meet enrollment and testing milestones. The audit includes recommendations urging more active follow-up, site visits, and use of available grant funds—steps other states employed to bring partner agencies…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
