In January 2017, the Maryland Sexual Assault Evidence Kit Policy and Funding Committee in the Attorney General's Office released a report that found 3,700 untested rape kits statewide. Maryland law does not require law enforcement agencies to test rape kits. In January 2019, the Committee released a report citing over 6,000 untested rape kits in the state.

In 2014, The Accountability Project issued an open records request to bring the number of untested kits in Baltimore to light. In response to our request, Joyful Heart received contradictory information from the Baltimore Police Department and the Baltimore Police Department Crime Lab. In August 2016, the Department of Justice found that, between 2010 and 2014, the Baltimore Police Department tested rape kits in just 15% of sexual assault cases, and otherwise systematically failed sexual assault survivors.

In 2015, Maryland enacted S.B. 498 requiring law enforcement agencies to conduct a one-time audit of untested rape kits. This audit identified 3,700 untested rape kits across the state, as reported by the State Attorney General in 2017.

That same year, Maryland also enacted H.B. 382, requiring health care professionals to provide victims with the investigating law enforcement agency’s contact information to inquire about the status of their case. The law requires law enforcement to inform a victim about the status of the rape kit testing and all available results, upon the victim’s request.

In 2017, Maryland enacted H.B. 255, requiring law enforcement and other agencies to preserve all newly collected rape kits for 20 years following collection, notify survivors at least 60 days before planned kit destruction, and keep kits for longer, upon written request. The law also grants survivors the right to receive, within 30 days of request, information about the location and status of their kits. Read Joyful Heart's testimony in support.

​In 2018, Maryland enacted H.B. 1124 requiring the Sexual Assault Evidence Kit (SAEK) Policy and Funding Committee to develop recommendations to create and operate a statewide rape kit tracking system that will be accessible to victims of sexual assault.

Also in 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) awarded the Maryland Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention $2,620,408 to test kits, investigate and prosecute cases, and re-engage survivors in the criminal justice system.

In 2019, Maryland enacted S.B. 569 to establish the Rape Kit Testing Grant Fund to pay for testing rape kits. The state legislature appropriated $3.5 million for this fund in the Fiscal Year 2020 budget. The Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention will administer grants to law enforcement agencies to pay for rape kit testing.

Additionally in 2019, Maryland enacted H.B. 1096 that requires that law enforcement submit rape kits to a crime lab for testing unless the victim does not consent to testing, there is clear evidence disproving the allegation, or the suspect is in the national DNA database (CODIS) and has pled guilty to the assault. Law enforcement would be required to submit all other kits for analysis within 30 days of receipt from a medical facility, and a lab would be required to test kits in a timely manner. Additionally, the Maryland Sexual Assault Evidence Kit Policy and Funding Committee in the Attorney General's Office will establish an independent process to review and make recommendations regarding law enforcement decisions not to test kits. Read Joyful Heart’s testimony.

Maryland’s 2020 budget bill, S.B.0190, provides an allocation of $3,500,000 towards the testing of rape kits.

TAKE ACTION TODAY TO BRING RAPE KIT REFORM TO MARYLAND