Wayne County prosecutors report progress on sexual-assault-kit testing; federal grant extensions approved

Wayne County prosecutors and county commissioners discussed recent reporting and federal grant extensions tied to the county's sexual-assault-kit initiative, highlighting completed testing, prosecution work and ongoing funding for detectives and prosecutors.

The committee received a catch-up report from the Wayne County sexual-assault-kit task force documenting work through recent fiscal years and approved two grant amendments extending federal funding from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance. Commissioners were told the grants will fund seven full-time detectives and two prosecuting attorneys working on kit testing, case reviews and conviction-integrity work.

The committee's discussion noted the task force has completed thousands of kits and that the county's approach has been cited as a national model. Commissioner Peterson Mayberry said during committee remarks that "these cases are being completed, with over 5,500 completed thus far," and thanked the prosecutor's office for the work. Tony Guerrero, chief of legislation, grants and community relations for Wayne County Prosecutor Kim Worthy, told the committee the prosecutor's office issues monthly reports and will provide them on request.

Guerrero described the federal grant amendment for the 2022 sexual-assault-kit initiative as an extension with no additional money and said it "will cover the cost of 7 full time detectives to work on these [sexual-assault] kits." He also described a separate DOJ grant amendment for a program to help "uphold the rule of law and prevent wrongful convictions," saying that amendment (just under $600,000) covers two assistant prosecutors and that no county match is required.

Committee members discussed how the reporting was prepared. Joe Sladezak, a county policy analyst, said the item was "catching up for an old budget language instruction" and that staff had circulated a current report to commissioners. Guerrero added that the prosecutor's office has had national interest in its model and that the county's conviction-integrity efforts have led to exonerations; he told the committee the prosecutor's office "has uncovered over 800 serial rapists as a result of testing these kits," and described the work as a national model.

Commissioners asked whether positions funded by the grants are temporary. Guerrero said the two prosecuting-attorney positions funded by the preventing-wrongful-convictions grant are funded by the grant and "we're hoping" they can be absorbed into the permanent staffing picture when the grant ends; there was no assurance of absorption.

The committee approved the two grant amendments by voice vote after a combined motion. The record shows commissioners moved to accept the grant amendments and carry forward the agreements as extensions of existing grant terms.