Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson appointed 17 people to quickly dig into why law enforcement agencies aren't reporting data on sexual assault kits and recommend how to improve the system.
The new working group comes after the USA TODAY Network Ohio bureau reportedthat the vast majority of Ohio law enforcement agencies are not reporting rape kit data to Wilson's office, as required by state law.
As attorney general, Mike DeWine cleared nearly 14,000 untested rape kits off police evidence locker shelves and had them analyzed by forensic scientists. But years later, a lack of reporting by law enforcement agencies makes it difficult to determine if a backlog of untested kits is building again.
In 2025, 61 law enforcement departments reported sexual
assault kit data to the state, but 940 other agencies did not report data to the attorney general's office. Some small departments may not have had cases to report but the agencies that failed to report include larger police departments as well.
The working group's goal is to have recommendations by early December, given that both Wilson and DeWine leave office in early January. The group includes:
- Co-Chair: Kristen Slaper, senior adviser to Wilson
- Co-Chair: James Lowe, deputy attorney general for law enforcement
- Rosa Beltré, president and CEO, Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence
- Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant
- Zanesville Police Chief Scott Comstock
- Nicole Dehner, executive director, Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services
- Sheree Ford, clinical nurse manager for forensics, OhioHealth
- Reese Gallagher, advocacy manager, Ohio Hospital Association
- Blanchester Police Chief Robert Houghton
- Bryn Hunt, vice president and associate general counsel, Ohio Hospital Association
- Laura Kaiser, executive director, Forensic Nursing Network
- Cathy Harper Lee, founder and executive director, Ohio Crime Victim Justice Center
- Van Wert County Sheriff Thomas Riggenbach
- Ohio Department of Public Safety Director Ben Suver
- Madison County Sheriff John Swaney
- Stark County Sheriff Eric Weisburn
- Licking County Prosecutor Jenny Wells
“The focus of this working group is to recommend improvements to the General Assembly for streamlining the reporting of this critical data,” Wilson said in a written statement. “The current process is cumbersome and ineffective. This group will study the best path forward to improve data collection and agency participation.”
State government reporter Laura Bischoff can be reached at lbischoff@usatodayco.com and @lbischoff on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio forms task force after rape kit reporting failures
