Will County Gazette

Veteran state Rep. Margo McDermed (R-Mokena) is marking one of her proudest moments since arriving in Springfield.

“We’ve been working on this for a while now,” McDermed told the Will County Gazette of the launch of the statewide Checkpoint system that allows sexual assault victims to monitor the status of their evidence throughout the entire course of their case, starting with evidence collection at the hospital all the way through actions taken at the State’s Attorney’s office. “It’s taken time to get the software for the system up and running and to put other things in place, but I’m pleased to have finally arrived at this point.”

McDermed first passed legislation to create the Sexual Assault Evidence Tracking and Reporting Commission in 2017, with one of the primary goals being to create an electronic evidence tracking system. Under the veteran lawmaker’s chairmanship, the commission made a series of recommended changes to law and policy to help jumpstart the system, which was formally transposed into legislation that was steered into passage by her last year.

“I think it gives victims back some control over what’s happening,” McDermed added. “We’ve all been diligent in getting done for the benefit of all those impacted.”

McDermed said legislators, Illinois State Police (ISP) and victims’ advocate groups have all played a key part in getting the job done, though there is still more work to finish.

“We need to continue to do more to address the rape kit backlog, including giving ISP the tools and manpower,” she said. “What’s important is that victims now have the power of transparency and accountability.”

McDermed said increased funding to tackle the problem has gone a long way. With even more, she said she is hopeful authorities may finally be able to update crime labs and hire more technicians.

“Hopefully, that will allow us to move even faster and have even greater production,” she said. “Talk to any victim and what they’ll tell you they really want is to see quicker turnarounds.”