Audit findings reveal that 18% of rape kits collected over an 18-month period in Louisiana were not submitted to a crime lab for testing, according to a report from the Louisiana Legislative Auditor. The report states that as of February 2026, 337 out of 1,879 collected kits had not been sent to a crime lab. Law enforcement staff also do not test all kits that reach the lab, as no state law mandates testing.
The report notes that one crime lab stated it tests all kits submitted by law enforcement, while the other five labs stated they will not test a kit if law enforcement or the district attorney informs them that the case will not be pursued. Several crime labs told auditors they use their own judgment to determine which kits to test based on “circumstantial or administrative factors.”
The nearly 1,900 kits in question are “reported” kits, meaning a victim agreed to undergo a special medical exam in the hope that police would investigate their alleged sexual assault. Kits collected from victims who do not want to work with law enforcement are referred to as “unreported” and are not supposed to be tested. In both cases, evidence is collected from victims during the exam, including DNA swabs.
Even if police decline to pursue a case, advocates advise that all kits be tested, so DNA from an assault can be included in a database that might link the perpetrator to other crimes. The report also found gaps in the online information available to sexual assault victims about the location or status of their individual kits.
In more than 25% of the cases surveyed, police failed to pick up the kit from the care provider who performed the exam or did not deliver it to a crime lab by the legally required deadlines. The state might struggle to force police agencies, care providers, and crime labs to comply with deadlines because Louisiana law includes no penalties for failing to obey them.
Legislative Auditor Michael Waguespack suggested that publicizing which agencies are not following the rules in an annual report on rape kits could help with compliance. The Louisiana State Police Crime Lab, which oversees the rape kit tracking system, should also make some updates to its online database to ensure rape kit information can be used to its fullest potential to solve crimes.
The Louisiana Legislature has passed a flurry of legislation dealing with the tracking and testing of rape kits since 2023. The changes have led to a surge in requests for rape kit testing. The number of kits submitted to crime labs went from 643 in fiscal year 2024 to 1,011 in 2025. Crime lab staff told the auditor they have not been given enough resources to keep up with the demand.
“Several labs stated that testing kits involves greater complexity and resources than most other types of DNA testing, and that testing more kits limits how much DNA testing they can perform for other types of crimes, such as homicides,” the report stated. The Louisiana State Police and other crime labs should also come up with a standardized way to report potential DNA matches in their system. There are currently gaps in communication between the crime labs and law enforcement agencies about these “hits” that could mean those potential leads aren’t being tracked down.
State Police Superintendent Col. Frank Besson, who oversees the crime lab that performs about half the rape kit testing in the state, agreed to adopt the suggestions the auditor made to improve rape kit testing accountability. “In support of that commitment, [State Police] has already initiated corrective actions and process improvements designed to address the issues identified in the audit,” the report stated.
