North Carolina Department of Public Safety Secretary Erik A. Hooks has appointed North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission Executive Director Lindsey Guice Smith as a member of a working group to develop a strategic plan for testing of sexual assault kits. 

"I am honored to be a part of this working group," said Guice Smith. 

On June 25, 2018, Governor Roy Cooper signed Session Law 2018-70 into law which directed the establishment of a Sexual Assault Kit Tracking System by October 1, 2018. This law followed an audit by the Department of Justice which found that there were 15,160 untested sexual assault kits across North Carolina at the end of 2017. The goal of the working group is to create a process to test all kits that are as of yet untested and to create a tracking system for future testing of all sexual assault kits. 

Guice Smith indicated she is excited to bring her extensive background in evidence management and neutral criminal investigation to create workable solutions that improve North Carolina’s criminal justice system.