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The Tennessee Conservative Staff –
A report released by the Tennessee Advisory Committee on Intergovernmental Relations (TACIR) shows that a Tennessee think tank has recommended the addition of a TBI Crime Lab in Chattanooga to help ease the current backlog of evidence processing.
TACIR began their study after the 2022 murder of Memphis teacher Eliza Fletcher drew attention to the backlog of rape kits awaiting processing in the three TBI crime labs across the state.
While additional agents were hired to help process those kits, evidence processing in other crime categories has become increasingly slower.
According to the report from TACIR, the turnaround time for processing of firearms testing has increased from 42 weeks to 67 weeks.
There has been increasing concern that these delays will, in turn, delay justice in many cases.
TACIR Senior Research Associate Madison Thorn stated, “Without addressing the constraint of limited lab space, the state’s effort to improve forensic evidence processing and public safety will be hindered.”
The full recommendation includes expanding the TBI labs in Jackson and Nashville and replacing the Knoxville lab with a larger facility that would include firearms testing. The recommended Chattanooga lab would be a smaller facility that would process drug evidence and toxicology testing.
Thorn noted that the demand for testing increased more quickly than anticipated after updates were made in 2021, stating that “they had to hire staff more quickly than anticipated, and that’s given them the need for more space.”
Cost estimates are not yet available for potential renovations to the Knoxville facility or a new Chattanooga location, but updating Nashville and Jackson could run between $44 million and $66 million.
Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp told NewsChannel 9 –
“This is great news. We are supportive of as many labs as the State is able to build and TBI is able to staff. Currently, local law enforcement has to physically transport thousands of pieces of evidence a year to either Nashville or Knoxville. A local lab to test drugs and examine blood for toxicology would expedite test results in a significant number of cases and also lessen the burden of transport that our law enforcement agencies are dedicating resources to. TBI experts who test the drugs and blood would also presumably no longer have to travel from Nashville or Knoxville to testify at hearings and trials if they are based out of a new Chattanooga office. A lab would cause the Hamilton County criminal justice system to function more efficiently, and we would be thrilled to see it.”
