A.G. Gancarski
Established laboratories will have a road to state funding via local police departments and sheriffs’ offices under certain circumstances.
Gov. Ron DeSantis approved HB 847, which establishes the Expedited DNA Testing Grant Program within the Department of Law Enforcement, allowing local law enforcement to use private labs that have been around for five years if they meet Federal Bureau of Investigation Quality Assurance Standards.
The funds will be allocated annually under the grant program.
Some conditions apply for use of this money.
These include whether the test can be done at a governmental lab, and whether there is a perceived need to go the private route to expedite an investigation.
Grant recipients must meet an annual reporting requirement.
They will have to track how much money the agencies got, how many cases were run, the time to turnaround results, the final dispensation of the lab tests, and what types of testing were used.
