Law enforcement officials in Kentucky plan to apply a growing technology to testing sexual assault kits, possibly leading to suspect identification within hours — not months.

Kentucky officials announced Wednesday their plan to take advantage of what's called "rapid DNA" technology in which machines analyze a forensic sample and can produce a DNA profile within about two hours.

The technology would more quickly identify suspects and exonerate the innocent, state police Commissioner Rick Sanders said.

He said that Kentucky will be the first state in the nation to use the technology for its sexual assault cases.

"In time, this should drastically reduce sexual assault crimes across the state," Sanders said.

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Kentucky is getting its rapid DNA machines from the Massachusetts and Colorado-based ANDE Corp., a DNA-testing technology company.

The state has made a major push to test backlogged kits since 2015, when an audit found about 3,000 untested kits across the state. Kentucky has since sent about 4,600 kits for laboratory DNA testing, a process now nearing its end.

These kits, some more than 40 years old, were either never submitted for testing, were tested with outdated techniques or were submitted for testing but then were recalled.

Speakers at a Wednesday news conference said using rapid DNA technology would allow the lab to keep up with the flow of new cases from across the state and more quickly provide leads to police.

Laura Sudkamp, Kentucky State Police's Forensic Laboratory System director, said the technology can help solve both stranger assaults as well as cases in which there’s already a known suspect.

“It’s amazing to us,” Sudkamp said. “We may be able to put a name to that DNA profile within a matter of hours.”

Under the current process, there can be laboratory and law enforcement delays during which victims may drop out of the process. This new tool, she said, will speed up the timeline, helping keep victims engaged.

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She cautioned the technology is new and that what KSP has undertaken is a limited pilot.

“We have to be extremely cautious with every step that we take,” she said.

The process starts by taking an additional swabbed sample from consenting victims when they’re at the hospital undergoing a sexual assault exam.

The sample, separate from what is collected for a traditional rape kit, is picked up by KSP lab staff within a few days and then ran through the rapid DNA equipment.

Sudkamp noted that the full rape kit is still getting tested and compared to the rapid DNA machine results.

Under the pilot, the KSP laboratory is accepting about 100 cases from Louisville, Lexington and perhaps Covington, Sudkamp said.

If the pilot were to be expanded to the many KSP labs across the state, the technology would cost approximately $3 million per year, she said, adding that the lab will apply for grants to fund the technology until the next budget cycle.

Gov. Matt Bevin said he hopes expedited handling of sexual assault cases will encourage more victims to report.

“We’ll find the money to keep this moving,” he said. “The price should be the least of our concerns.”

Reporter Matthew Glowicki can be reached at 502-582-4989 or mglowicki@courier-journal.com. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/mattg.