Madison, WI – Today, Attorney General Josh Kaul and the Wisconsin Department of Justice is launching Track-Kit, a statewide online sexual assault kit (SAK) tracking system that allows survivors to follow the location of their kit through the testing process. Beginning Tuesday, May 24, all SAKs collected will be added to Track-Kit.
As the Department of Justice initiated the project prior to the passage of 2021 Act 117, which addresses SAK tracking, the SAK tracking system is live ahead of the statutory requirement.
State Senator Melissa Agard (D-Madison), one of the original authors of 2021 Act 117, released the following statement:
“I am proud to join Attorney General Kaul and advocates today to celebrate the release of Track-Kit. For many survivors of sexual assault, Track-Kit will provide transparent status and location of their kit to help empower those who want access to that information and to know that their situation is being taken care of seriously.
“Reporting can be one of the most difficult steps a survivor of sexual assault can take. It’s crucial that we support survivors by treating them with dignity, respect, and a fair and just process. Track-Kit offers much-needed transparency in sexual assault kit processing.”
In addition to the status and location of a kit, Track-Kit also maintains a timeline of a kit’s history, from the medical facility to the law enforcement agency to the crime laboratory, with the length of time spent at each location documented.
Track-Kit functions on a barcode system, so no personally identifiable information of the survivor will be stored in the Track-Kit system. At the time of the sexual assault exam, survivors will receive their SAK’s barcode.
“I applaud Attorney General Kaul and the Wisconsin Department of Justice for all their work on this online tracking system, and thank them for all that they are doing to support survivors here in Wisconsin,” said Senator Agard.
