Grant will help reduce sexual assault kit backlog in Nevada

Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., on Thursday said the Justice Department awarded the Nevada attorney general’s office a $1,962,414 grant to continue the state’s participation in the National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative.

The money will go to expand the effort to reduce the sexual assault kit backlog in Nevada. The money will be used to hire a sexual assault resource prosecutor, a victim advocate and other personnel, Titus’ representative Kyle Roerink said in a statement.

Also in the statement, Titus said, “This effort shows sexual assault victims that law enforcement is working to bring them justice.”

In 2015, the state received a similar award from the Justice Department to inventory and test backlogged kits and fund victim support services and investigative functions within the Metro Crime Lab in Southern Nevada.

The Obama administration established the initiative in the president’s 2015 Budget Request. That year, Congress funded the grant program at $41 million.

Contact Jessica Terrones at jterrones@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Find @JessATerrones on Twitter.