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The Sexual Assault Center in Nashville said they’ve watched victims wait up to 18 months before their rape kits were tested.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A bill pushed by a Memphis lawmaker that would require rape kits to be tested within 30 days did not receive funding in the governor’s proposed state budget Tuesday. That means HB104, sponsored by Antonio Parkinson, is dead, according to House Democrats. The bill had previously been recommended for passage by the […]

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is still working to speed up the testing of rape kits despite special funding not being included in the state budget. It’s a loss for rape victims across the state, according to attorney Gary Smith. “Rapists are not one-off offenders. They’re serial. And the lack of testing […]

Currently, law enforcement is required to send rape kits to TBI within 30 days, but Tennessee Code doesn’t dictate actually testing them.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Final arguments were heard Thursday in a class action lawsuit to determine whether the City of Memphis is liable for inflicting emotional distress on rape victims by failing to test over 12,000 rape kits. Judge Gina Higgins heard summary judgment arguments in Janet Doe v. The City of Memphis. Higgins is expected […]

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WREG) — A bill that would require the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to test rape kits they receive within 30 days passed a key House committee Tuesday night. The bill sponsored by Antonio Parkinson of Memphis passed the Criminal Justice Committee, allowing it to advance to the Government Operations Committee. The TBI said […]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee is outsourcing the testing of at least 550 rape kits to a private Florida lab through a $1.5 million federal grant, the state’s lead investigative agency announced Monday in a move aimed at reducing processing times that have drawn scrutiny. In a news release, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said […]

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A judge ruled Wednesday that thousands of rape victims in the city of Memphis can join in one class action lawsuit. It’s a case WREG has covered extensively since first uncovering the rape kit backlog more than a decade ago.  There was happiness in the hallway outside court Wednesday afternoon. Attorneys told […]

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — In wake of Eliza Fletcher’s kidnapping and murder in September, state representative Antonio Parkinson has introduced a bill requiring TBI to test rape kits within 30 days. Governor Bill Lee has taken steps to expand hiring at the bureau’s forensic labs, but Parkinson says more needs to be done. Earlier this week, he told some of […]

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Problems with rape kit evidence testing keep haunting Memphis. A city long plagued by a heavy backlog of untested sexual assault kits was shaken by Cleotha Henderson’s arrest in the killing of Eliza Fletcher after she was abducted during a morning jog last month. So when authorities said his DNA was […]

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Circuit Court judge held a hearing Thursday on whether the city of Memphis can be held liable for a backlog of rape evidence kits. This is lawsuit was brought on behalf of Janet Doe against the city of Memphis. A class-action lawsuit was brought by rape victims who claim the city […]