TOPEKA — A Kansas Bureau of Investigation initiative is expected to change the state’s sexual assault evidence kit process so that survivors are no longer left in the dark.

As early as 2026, sexual assault survivors, health care facilities, law enforcement agencies, forensic science laboratories and attorneys’ offices in Kansas will be able to track the status of a sexual assault evidence kit, also known as a rape kit, through an online system. Kansas is among the last states in the country to adopt such a system.

KBI director Tony Mattivi told a group of legislators about the new approach at a June 10 hearing on interagency cooperation before the Senate Committee on Government Efficiency. The tracking system will offer real-time information on the status and location of an evidence kit.

“That, I think, will help ensure transparency and accountability in a way that has never been seen in our lab before,” Mattivi said, “and we’re very proud to be working to provide that to the citizens and crime victims in Kansas.”

Kansas is a late adopter of kit tracking systems. The majority of states across the country, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., adopted some sort of system by 2024, but Kansas is one of around a dozen states that haven’t, according to data from End the Backlog, a project by the national nonprofit Joyful Heart Foundation.

Tracking systems are one of a handful of transparency initiatives that End the Backlog recommends agencies adopt. Those recommended initiatives arose after a major push in the 2010s to eliminate massive backlogs of untested rape kits sitting under the purview of law enforcement agencies. The KBI claimed in 2021 to have zero untested kits, compared to 2,220 untested in 2017. KBI did not provide updated untested kit numbers for this story.

Once the program is available in early 2026, Kansans can access information on the kits through a web portal, and the tracking process begins from the moment a nurse receives an evidence kit.

Hospitals will be stocked with kits with barcodes that a nurse can scan into the system. Once in the system, law enforcement is automatically notified that the kit is ready to be picked up, said Melissa Underwood, a KBI spokeswoman.

“From there, the system tracks the status of the kit as it moves from the law enforcement agency to a forensic science laboratory for testing, and then back to the law enforcement agency,” Underwood said.

Attorneys’ offices will receive notice when forensic lab reports are available to be used as evidence.

“Finally, the system will provide the survivor with anonymous login access so they are able to track the status of their kit as it moves through the process,” Underwood said.

The KBI contracted with a third-party vendor, Porter Lee Corp., to provide the system for $240,000 through the first quarter of 2026.

Sen. Michael Murphy, a Sylvia Republican and one of four senators who attended the efficiency committee meeting, said that initially, he hadn’t thought of a tracking system as a solution, but he has heard frustration from constituents who know nothing about evidence kits they submitted in the wake of a sexual assault. He expressed approval for the change.

“I think that’s real important,” he said.