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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 into compliance, the auditor said.
In a separate audit, the council found questionable expenditures linked to Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) funding handled by the University of South Carolina’s Office of Economic Engagement and the USC Columbia Technology Incubator and Research Foundation. The report said roughly $1,700,000 in GEER monies went to transactions the auditors described as questionable, including purchases such as Apple watches and funding for two computer labs that never opened—more than $600,000 in the latter category.
The audit manager told lawmakers the incubator’s board did not adequately oversee tenants. According to the report, more than 76% of incubator tenants stayed beyond the program’s intended maximum duration and 37% remained more than 10 years—outcomes the audit said undercut the incubator’s stated purpose of incubating technology-based small businesses and graduating them within 36 months.
The Legislative Audit Council also reported follow-ups on the Department of Commerce, noting auditors made 39 recommendations to improve transparency and performance measures; the department implemented 23 either partially or fully, two were no longer applicable, and 14 were not implemented.
Other audits discussed at the session included a full audit and follow-up of a large agency referred to as "DJD/DJ Day" with 101 recommendations and roughly half implemented, an in-progress audit of the state education department focused on federal testing and assessments, and an audit under development of the Charter Institute at Erskine College concerning potential conflicts of interest and investments in educational management organizations.
Why it matters: The council emphasized that incomplete enrollment in the evidence-tracking system delays identification and testing of kits and can prolong victims’ waits for justice. The USC-related findings raise questions about university oversight of grant spending and incubator governance.
The audit manager said the council’s reports include specific recommendations and that the second part of the SLED audit details steps the agency should take to "bring it up to speed and make it the way it should be." The council also described its existing protocol for referring potential criminal conduct to SLED.
Lawmakers asked about the council’s access to records and whether stronger powers—such as subpoena authority—would change outcomes. The audit manager said the council lacks subpoena power but that, in practice, legislative requesters and committee subpoenas can help obtain hard-to-get records. The council also noted difficulties when information is held by affiliated foundations or involves federal protections.
The Audit Manager concluded by noting ongoing work: a forthcoming audit of the state utilities/commission (described as "air knocks commission/Sunrise" in the session), finalizing education audit objectives, and the statutorily required management performance audit of childcare at the Department of Social Services.
