Frequently Asked Questions
- Sexual Assault Kits with a CODIS Match: The foreign DNA profile from the sexual assault kit that was uploaded into the Combined DNA Indexing System (CODIS) matched the DNA profile of one or more DNA profiles within CODIS. This number can continually change as matches can happen indefinitely into the future. A match can be either a forensic match or an offender hit.
Please Note: For this purpose, all CODIS hits (both forensic and offender) are counted regardless of whether they provide a specific investigative lead for a particular case. The CODIS hit count includes each individual DNA profile match between cases, as well as each DNA profile match belonging to an offender. The metric 'total number of hits' is utilized to be able to demonstrate case connectivity and where hits are generating by county and those originating in other states. This may differ from how CODIS hits are counted for other reporting purposes.
- Forensic Match: The foreign DNA profile from the sexual assault kit that was uploaded into CODIS matched a DNA profile in the forensic index. The forensic index contains evidentiary profiles from crimes and are connected to incidents or cases and not to specific individuals. Therefore, these matches represent connections between cases and may not provide information which identifies a suspect.
- Offender hit: The foreign DNA profile from the sexual assault kit that was uploaded into CODIS matched a DNA profile in the offender or arrestee index. The offender and arrestee indexes contain DNA profiles obtained at the time of arrest or conviction and are connected to a named individual. For the purposes of this project, offender hits can be classified as cold or warm hits. This terminology and sub-classification is different than current FBI/CODIS terminology.
Survivors with questions can reach the Washington State Attorney General's WA SAKI team at: 833-753-0900.
For media and general inquires please contact:
Brionna Aho
Communications Director
360-753-2727
Survivors with questions please contact:
833-753-0900
Click here to see a list of community sexual assault programs in Washington State.
In July of 2015, the Washington State Legislature provided the Washington State Crime Lab with funding to begin testing the state’s backlog of unsubmitted sexual assault kits. In October of 2017, the Washington State Attorney General's Office was awarded a $3 million SAKI Grant to continue this important work. The Washington State Attorney General’s Office will award $1.5 million, the maximum amount allowable under the SAKI grant, to the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab to continue to fund the testing of the backlog of unsubmitted sexual assault kits. The Attorney General’s Office began conducting its inventory of unsubmitted sexual assault kits in June of 2018. At that time, local law enforcement had already began submitting previously unsubmitted sexual assault kits to the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab for testing using the 2015 Legislative funding.
For more information about kits and the projects' Data and Results Click here. For more information about the Washington State Attorney General's Inventory Click here.
The tracking system provides sexual assault survivors with the ability to anonymously track the location of their Sexual Assault Kit (SAK) from the moment it is collected at the medical facility through the forensic analysis to final storage location.
For more information on Washington Sexual Assault Tracking System click here.
To view the Tracking System, click here.
An unsubmitted sexual assault kit is a sexual assault kit that has not been submitted to a forensic laboratory for testing.
The Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS, blends forensic science and computer technology into a tool for linking violent crimes. It enables federal, state, and local forensic laboratories to exchange and compare DNA profiles electronically, thereby linking serial violent crimes to each other and to known offenders. Using the National DNA Indexing System or CODIS, the National Missing Persons DNA Database also helps identify missing and unidentified individuals. For more information about CODIS Click here.
A partially tested sexual assault kit is a sexual assault kit that has been previously submitted to a forensic laboratory, but was screened using serology (not DNA tested), or was tested using outdated DNA testing methods which cannot be uploaded into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). For more information about CODIS, Click here.