Addressing Colorado’s DNA testing kit backlog has important implications for justice and the economy. Resolving this issue will not only provide justice for survivors of sexual assault but also will mean averting the negative impact on the Colorado economy that happens as a side effect.

The state has been dragging a serious problem with its forensic caseload for quite some time. Across Colorado, nearly 1,400 sexual assault kits — used in collecting physical evidence from a victim for use in prosecuting the suspect — remain untested. That is a sobering problem with consequences for public safety and survivors seeking closure.

Colorado’s problem mirrors an unfortunate national trend. In other states, equivalent backlogs are a weight on the public shoulders as they are here. Colorado has a chance to prove itself a leader in the discussion for the sake of its people and its economic prospects.

It would be better if this situation had arisen suddenly, but sadly, this is not the case. Rather, this situation in Colorado has developed over time, compounded by years of under-resourced and frankly mismanaged forensic infrastructure and a recent case involving misconduct by a forensic scientist. The result is a clog of DNA evidence waiting for analysis while law enforcement waits. While victims wait.

Thanks to the data analysts at the Common Sense Institute, where I serve as the Ownes-Early Criminal Justice fellow, we know the economic costs to Colorado while these kits go untested — and the potential savings for the state if they are cleared.

The Common Sense Institute has been at the forefront of crime-related costs analysis in Colorado for years, estimating in previous reports that the state’s crime in 2021 drained $27.2 billion from the state’s economy. Common Sense Institute’s economic analysts applied the same methodology to the DNA testing kit backlog.

The basic premise of the analysis is that crime is more than just lost property or damaged emotional and physical health. Every crime costs the state economy, from a combination of labor for the criminal justice system, lost property and quality of life for victims, and lost wages and productivity from the trauma.

It is crucial to keep in mind that the case backlog is not a static, isolated forensic item. The backlog has consequences, for the crimes’ survivors, perpetrators, the criminal justice system, and the Colorado economy.

Every untested case represents a potentially unprosecuted offender. Offenders who are not prosecuted might reoffend in the meantime. While survivors wait for justice, offenders continue to commit crimes.

In the case of sexual assault, this reoffense rate is higher than for that of other criminals. On average, a person arrested for rape has 3.69 years left in their criminal career, during which they commit approximately 7.1 sexual assaults per year. Rapists are also statistically more likely to commit a litany of other crimes, meaning their reoffense rate will be more expansive than that of a car thief or arsonist.

Clearing the backlog would be a force multiplier. Testing the backlog of cases could result in up to 200 successful prosecutions and prevent over 1,000 future sexual assaults, in addition to numerous other crimes.

It does take money for Colorado to test its way out of this clog, but that money pales in comparison to how much the crimes cost. Clearing the backlog would cost approximately a tenth of the expenses related to the crimes it allows.

Notably, sexual assault is the most economically damaging crime, according to Common Sense Institute analysis, reflecting perhaps how damaging it is to a victim’s person.

Preventing crime by addressing this backlog could save the state of Colorado $234 million in crime-related costs. The estimated expense for completing this effort is around $21 million.

This is not just about the bottom line, of course. Economic outcomes would mirror justice.

From a purely jurisprudential standpoint, clearing the backlog means hundreds of survivors who receive justice, a public whose faith in the criminal justice system is kept intact, hundreds of offenders who get their day in court, and preventing future lives from being twisted by sexual assault.

Justice exists for its own sake. If it is deferred, so is institutional trust. This has, sadly, been compromised in the last few decades, with Americans expressing less trust in their institutions than ever before, according to Gallup Polling data.

DNA evidence plays a powerful role in achieving fair trial outcomes, identifying repeat offenders, exonerating innocent suspects and strengthening trust in our institutions. Prompt testing of kits honors the effort and vulnerability it takes for a survivor to come forward. When that process stalls, faith in the system erodes.

Colorado has an opportunity to lead the way in rebuilding some of that trust.

Fortunately, the state has not ignored this. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation plans to outsource 1,000 kits to private labs and hire 15 new DNA scientists. If funding and staffing stay on track, the backlog could be eliminated by the end of 2025, and average turnaround times could shrink to 90 days by mid-2027. This is crucial progress.

The current period presents a critical opportunity. Any delay will escalate costs, financial and societal. The longer evidence remains untested, the greater the risk of repeat offenses, missed investigative leads, disheartened survivors, weakened confidence in the criminal justice system, and the criminal drain on economic resources.

Our state legislature has taken steps in the right direction with SB25-170 and SB25-304, both signed by Gov. Polis. Follow-through will matter just as much. Continued investment in state and local forensic labs is essential to prevent future backlog.

To meet its goal of having each DNA kit tested in 90 days, the legislature should provide funding to Colorado’s local and regional crime labs to reduce the backlog. Colorado has always exercised and endorsed a system of local control, where cities and towns and counties reveal themselves to be more flexible and responsive to local concerns than larger state organizations. This action would relieve Colorado Bureau of Investigation of the burden of testing the backlogged DNA kits, spreading the burden among varying departments.

That flexibility can provide crucial responsiveness, which is the point of our criminal justice system: to respond to tragedy promptly and expertly so offenders are punished and survivors validated.

Clearing the backlog is not just about addressing past failings. It’s about making Colorado’s system of justice more responsive, reliable, and humane for those who need it most. In the process, Colorado could save hundreds of millions of dollars in crime-related costs and perhaps repair some of the eroded confidence in state institutions which has plagued states and nation alike in recent years.

Justice is not simply just. In the case of addressing the backlog of DNA kits, justice is effective and smart.

Mitch Morrissey was the elected district attorney for the 2nd Judicial District (JD), from 2005 to 2017. Before 2005, Morrissey was a trial lawyer in the Denver District Attorney’s Office beginning in 1983. After leaving the Denver D.A.’s office in 2017, Morrissey co-founded United Data Connect, which has become a leader in solving cold-case murders and rapes using investigative genetic genealogy. United Data Connect has also become a leader in training genealogists to conduct investigative genetic genealogy efficiently and effectively.