CBI director says sex‑assault kit backlog is down more than 50% and turnaround times are improving

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation reported progress on a long‑running forensic backlog during the Department of Public Safety presentation to the Joint Judiciary Committee.

CBI Director Armando Saldate said the bureau has reduced the sexual‑assault kit backlog by more than half, from about 1,462 kits earlier in the remediation effort to roughly 629 currently, and shortened a 450‑day average turnaround to about 269 days. He credited a two‑pronged strategy of outsourcing to accredited external laboratories and hiring and training additional forensic scientists.

"We were at 450 day turnaround time, we have now reduced that to 269," Saldate said, adding that increased outsourcing authorized by the legislature and recruitment of specialized staff are both in use. Deputy director Lance Allen told the committee that three new scientists are taking on cases and seven are in training, with an expectation that full hiring will increase internal capacity.

Why it matters: Faster testing and lower backlogs help prosecutions, victim services and overall public safety. Committee members flagged capacity constraints at national accredited labs and stressed the need to quantify how much additional funding would be required to secure outside capacity if Colorado sought to accelerate outsourcing.

The committee also pressed CBI on its responsibilities for statewide criminal‑justice information systems; director Saldate said a recent FBI audit of Colorado’s CJIS systems produced no major findings and that CBI is improving performance.

Next steps: CBI directors said they will continue to use the combined hiring and outsourcing strategy, track progress to a 90‑day target for turnaround, and quantify the additional dollars needed to expand external contracting capacity if the legislature chooses to fund faster remediation.