Sarasota County Sheriff's Office: Lab Accreditation and Reducing the Backlog of Opioid Drug Submissions

The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office is pursuing accreditation for our drug laboratory.  We acknowledge the value of ISO 17025 accreditation and have chose to embark on achieving this through the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA).

In preparation for assessment, we have already prepared our documents, introduced new programs and have researched if ISO 17025 would conflict with the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office accreditation.  We have a robust system in place and is eligible under ISO 17025 and with this funding, intend to undergo the assessment in the Fall of 2021 with A2LA.

In June of 2020, the Sheriff's Office was accepted into the ASCLD Accreditation initiative and was granted a mentor.  This inclusion allowed us to participate in monthly meetings.  We were resourced with access to documents and a weekly meeting with an expert who is accredited with A2LA.  This initiative allowed our laboratory to gain the confidence to succeed in our future assessment and remain in compliance with ISO 17025.

The funds from this program will allow the Sheriff's Office to proceed with the process A2LA has designed to achieve accreditation for our drug lab.  The A2LA proposal for accreditation is $13,060.  In addition, this application includes funding for training regarding ISO17025:2017 accreditation for both of our chemists.  The estimated cost for both chemists for classes, travel and per diem is approximately $10,353.
Lastly, we are requesting funds for a new Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer to help reduce our drug case backlog.  Our current instrument is 21 years old and has had issues meeting the sample demand due to our increased case loads.  The synthetic samples associated with the Opioid Crisis have accelerated the deterioration of the equipment and caused the unit downtime for repairs.  The new unit cost is approximately $131,750.

Our total request for accreditation, training and reducing the backlog is $155,163.

We appreciate your consideration of our project and look forward to working with you to completion.