TULSA, Okla. — It’s an issue that dates back almost a decade.
Tulsa police found 4,000 untested sexual assault kits in 2017. 2 News reported by 2024, 2000 of those tested.
WATCH: BACKLOG PROGRESS: TPD down to 680 untested sexual assault exams
But, the backlog really piled up for TPD's forensics lab team in 2019.
Local News
TPD works through 50% of their sexual assault exam backlog
“Any backlog is unacceptable in our eyes," said TPD's Director of Forensics Lab Jon Wilson. “When legislation was passed that all sexual assault kits had to be tested — however it didn’t give us any resources to carry out those additional tests."
The good news is Wilson said they’re down to about 680 exams that still need to be tested as of July 2026.
Wilson explained before 2019, not every sexual assault exam made it to the lab or needed to be tested — because of things like a suspect admitting to a crime, and DNA evidence not being necessary.
He said their caseload doubled when the law changed, requiring every exam be tested within 30 days.
The struggle, Wilson said, is they don’t have the hands to do all the work — on top of additional cases coming in daily. Though, Wilson said they've tried shifting resources to make up for their gap.
“We’ve hired additional personnel off of federal grants that have allowed us more analysts that have since transitioned into a city position when those become available," said Wilson. "We’ve moved positions from other sections into DNA to try to get additional personnel in that section to help out.”
Wilson said it all comes down to having the extra analysts to help that backlog keep dwindling.
While he knows this isn't easy for the survivors, to have no other option but to wait, Wilson says his team is working as quickly as they can.
“Everybody wants to get these cases out as quickly as possible," said Wilson. "They want to help the victims, they want to help the investigations, they want to continue to decrease the workload because it’s stressful for them."
Without additional personnel added to help work through the remaining 680 cases, Wilson said his team could have another year or more to go to get all caught up.
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