The backlog of sexual assault kits in Wisconsin became a central issue in the race for attorney general, in which Kaul narrowly defeated Schimel.

Since his election, Kaul has advocated for more support for the state’s crime labs.

Evers proposed a nearly $2 million funding increase and 17 additional positions — including five DNA analysts — at the state’s crime labs in his budget proposal, according to an analysis by the state’s nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau. The Republican-led Joint Finance Committee reduced those numbers in its own budget, and instead allocated an additional $722,400 for seven new positions.

Kaul said he was glad to see the added positions approved by the committee. He said increased support of the state’s crime labs will help prevent future backlogs of critical evidence.

“While there’s been an improvement in the last few months, we want to make sure we have a solution in place that’s going to be sustainable for the long term and make sure these delays don’t crop up again down the road,” said Kaul. “And the way we can do that is by making sure we have sufficient resources at the crime labs.”

According to the DOJ, there have been eight cases that have been prosecuted using evidence from sexual assault kits that had been part of the backlog.

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