TBI Could Start Charging For Crime Lab Use

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. - State budget cuts have reached law enforcement. Tennessee Bureau of Investigation wants to start charging local police departments to test crime scene evidence. It could cost local governments tens of thousands of dollars.

Physical evidence collected at a crime scene is vital in the prosecution of criminals and putting them behind bars. Most evidence in Tennessee is tested at TBI crime labs.

The fees the TBI wants to start charging police departments and other agencies could offset state budget cuts.

Local police agencies would have to pay for tests like DNA and toxicology. Potentially that could cost local governments tens of thousands of dollars a year.

"How much that would cost if we had to pay for it? We don't know," said Metro Police spokesman Don Aaron.

Aaron said police submitted nearly 3,200 lab requests to the TBI last year. He said neither Metro nor other departments have ever paid for testing.

"If a fee is imposed it would obviously have a budgetary hit on this police department and other agencies," said Aaron.

The good news for Metro is if fees are imposed the police department would only have to pay for a couple of years.

Metro plans to build its own crime lab on land that used to be an old Ford dealership on Charlotte Pike near White Bridge Road. In the meantime Metro may have to pay like everyone else.

Aaron said Metro residents can rest assured any fees won't affect the city's crime fighting ability.

"I do not anticipate that any type of fee schedule would impact the number or types of testing that we request the laboratory to conduct," said Aaron.

Wilson County sheriff Terry Ashe said lawmakers should include the fee in court costs, and make defendants pay for crime lab testing instead of taxpayers.

A spokeswoman with TBI said they'll be releasing more information on Monday.