Increase Capacity of Greenville County Dept. of Public Safety Forensic DNA Laboratory (GC-DPS-FDL) to offer forensic biology/DNA services for regional upstate SC agencies at a no-cost

The County of Greenville is the agency responsible for analyzing evidential material associated with criminal investigations for local law enforcement agencies and the coroner's office within the County of Greenville, South Carolina. The County of Greenville operates one forensic science laboratory under the Greenville CountyDepartment of Public Safety (GC-DPS). The County of Greenville designates the GCDPS as the agency responsible for conducting forensic biology/DNA analysis on relevant samples collected from all casework requested by the Greenville County Sheriff's Office, Coroner’s Office, and the Greenville Police Department. The GC-DPS Forensic DNA Laboratory began receiving and processing forensic biology/DNA cases from the agencies listed above after the accreditation date of March 16, 2011.

The County of Greenville's budgetary constraints prevented the GC-DPS Forensic DNA Laboratory from offering free services to neighboring counties and municipalities in the upstate region of South Carolina. Initially, a fee-for-service was available to these agencies, but their budgetary constraints hindered them from using the GC-DPS Forensic DNA Laboratory. Through CEBR grant funding, the GC-DPS has provided services to process forensic biology/DNA cases for all regional agencies at a no-cost basis since January 2013. Supporting these regional agencies has positively affected turnaround of forensic biology/DNA casework in the upstate of South Carolina and reduced the backlog to the state DNA laboratory through reduction of upstate agency submissions.

The Federal funding from this award will be used for the following goals:
1. Continue to offer forensic biology/DNA services to regional upstate SC agencies at a no-cost basis, increasing overall capacity of GC-DPS Forensic DNA Laboratory with forensic biology/DNA cases from these regional agencies.
2. Reduce the current backlog of forensic biology/DNA cases at the GC-DPS Forensic DNA Laboratory.
3. Purchase server licenses to increase efficiency for interpretation of DNA mixtures using probabilistic genotyping software.
4. Continue to meet ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation standards through funding of annual audits and accreditation fees from ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB).
5. Provide continuing education for DNA Laboratory staff.

The GC-DPS Forensic DNA Laboratory expects to analyze at least 180 forensic biology and DNA cases specific to backlog and regional agencies with overtime and supply funds provided during the award period. The DNA Laboratory also expects to purchase two additional access licenses to increase the number of simultaneous users connected to the server used for interpretation of DNA mixtures in casework.