STATE OF WISCONSIN

 

 

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
BRAD D. SCHIMEL 17 W. Main Street
ATTORNEY GENERAL P.0. Box 7857
Madison, WI 53707-7857
Andrew C. Cook 
Deputy Attorney General
May 6, 2015

Ms. Denise E. O?Donnell, Director
Bureau of Justice Assistance
Of?ce of Justice Programs

810 Seventh Street NW
Washington, DC 20531

RE: State of Wisconsin FY15 Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) Grant Application
Dear Ms. O?Donnell,

As Wisconsin?s Attorney General, I am writing to express my commitment to achieving the goals of
FY15 BJA Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Grant program.

In December of 2012, WI Attorney General .B. Van Hollen announced the creation of the Attorney
General?s Sexual Assault Response Team (AG SART), a multidisciplinary group of professionals
knowledgeable in the complex issues surrounding sexual assault, with the purpose of improving
access to, management of and payment for sexual assault forensic exams.

Through this collaborative proposal, we seek to build upon the work of the AG SART by developing a
comprehensive, statewide initiative to address the state's backlog of un-submitted sexual assault
kits, enhance the investigation and prosecution of sexual assault cases, while achieving the long-
term goal of improving the criminal justice response to cases of sexual assault. Project partners will
include the Wisconsin Department of Justice, Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault, and the
Milwaukee County District Attorney?s Of?ce. The Wisconsin Department of Justice will be the
applicant agency.

In addition to the AG SART, the Wisconsin Department of Justice is uniquely equipped to implement
multidisciplinary sexual assault response team policies and procedures on a statewide level, as it
houses the Division of Criminal Investigation, the Of?ce of Crime Victim Services, the Division of
Legal Services, the Wisconsin State Crime Lab, and the Bureau of Justice Information and Analysis.
In addition, a statewide Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) Coordinator is employed by the
Department to assist with training new SANE nurses and providing technical assistance to existing
SANE programs. 

Thank you for your consideration of the State of Wisconsin?s proposal. As detailed in the state?s
application, we feel that Wisconsin is exceptionally well-positioned to be successful in carrying out
the goals of FY 15 Sexual Assault Kit Initiative.



Brad D. Schimel
Attorney General