Federal grant could give Clark County second sex assault prosecutor

The Clark County District Attorney’s office wants federal funds to hire a second prosecutor dedicated to a backlog of thousands of sexual assault forensic examination kits.

County commissioners on Tuesday will vote whether to approve a request for almost $580,000 in federal grant money. If granted, that money will pay for three years of salary and benefits for a prosecutor and an investigator, as well as expenses related to training, travel and expert witnesses.

The prosecutor will help police investigate cases related to the newly tested kits and prosecute any cases where criminal charges are made.

The Nevada Attorney General’s office will submit the request for a Bureau of Justice Administration’s Sex Assault Kit Initiative grant behalf of the DA’s office.

In 2015, Attorney General Adam Laxalt announced a statewide initiative to begin reducing a backlog of more than 7,500 untested sexual assault evidence kits. A federal grant awarded the next year allowed the DA’s office to employ one full-time prosecutor, who is expected to continue working on the backlog through September 2019.

So far some 4,600 kits have been tested and 11 arrests have been made.

Contact Michael Scott Davidson at sdavidson@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861. Follow @davidsonlvrj on Twitter.