A new draft report from Tennessee Advisory Committee on Intergovernmental Relations suggests the state’s crime labs are physically too small and need to be expanded to meet future demand for evidence testing. 

“Although recent state investments have led to improvements in capacity and forensic evidence turnaround times, persistent backlogs continue to delay investigations and court proceedings across Tennessee, and the state’s projected population growth suggests that its current crime lab capacity will not be sufficient to meet future needs,” the report reads. “Ultimately, without confronting the constraint of limited lab space, the state’s efforts to further improve forensic evidence processing and public safety will be hindered.”

The state’s Jackson lab, which Memphis uses for evidence testing, has already outgrown its current space, according to the report. At the same time, from 2023 to 2024 the lab saw the highest percentage increase in forensic evidence requests among the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s three state labs. The other two are located in Knoxville and Nashville.

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