Nevada lawmakers are being asked to allocate almost $3.7 million toward testing more than 7,500 sexual assault evidence kits languishing in police vaults around the state, including some in Las Vegas dating back 30 years.
State Attorney General Adam Laxalt says he hopes the legislature's Interim Finance Committee on Wednesday will approve funds from grants and settlements the state has received.
About 6,300 of the untested evidence collection kits are in Las Vegas, where police forensic lab director Kimberly Murga says the state money should provide full funding toward testing every rape kit by 2020.
The effort is also getting funding from the U.S. Justice Department and New York County District Attorney Sexual Assault Kit Backlog Elimination Program.