Tennessee's DNA Capacity Enhancement and Backlog Reduction Initiative (CEBR)

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation seeks funding under the FY24 DNA Capacity Enhancement and Backlog Reduction Program to support the reduction of DNA casework and database backlogs, improve turnaround times, and enhance capacity to produce and upload Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) eligible profiles for Tennessee.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s Forensic Services Division is the state crime laboratory system responsible for processing evidence for every law enforcement agency and medical examiner from 95 counties and 31 jurisdictions in the state of Tennessee. The system is made up of three laboratory locations with forensic biology units conducting DNA testing, and a separate CODIS unit in the Nashville lab which manages statewide arrestee and offender database entries and hits. Currently, the forensic biology and CODIS units process cases for 969 active submitting agencies from throughout the state each year.

As the total number of forensic DNA cases submitted increased by 63 percent from 2019 to 2023 and 60.4 percent of total cases submitted in 2023 were sexual assault cases, the Forensic Services Division seeks to build capacity to produce CODIS eligible profiles, increase throughput of forensic cases, and reduce by 15 percent both the forensic backlog (1,830) and turnaround time (215 days) as of December 2023. This award will assist in meeting these outcomes through the provision of overtime, temporary forensic personnel, training, and purchase of supplies to support new DNA forensic scientists completing training.

While the CODIS unit has reduced database sample turnaround time from 3.5 months (2020) to 2.8 months (2023), the ability to further improve turnaround is limited due to outsourcing these samples to an external vendor. By transitioning to in-house database testing, distributing new collection kits, and adding rapid DNA to support more timely verifications of CODIS hits, this funding will allow the bureau to significantly reduce the time it takes from when a sample is received to when it is entered into CODIS and a report produced for the submitting Tennessee agency.