NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Tennessee’s crime labs are at or near capacity, and the state could consider expanding current facilities and building new ones.
The Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (TACIR) launched a study into the issue following Memphis teacher, Eliza Fletcher‘s September 2022 murder. Her death led to the discovery of a massive backlog of rape kits waiting to be tested inside the TBI’s crime labs.
The TBI hired additional agents to address the rape kit turnaround times, but the amount of time it takes to get test results back in almost every other evidence category has since gotten worse.
For example, according to TACIR’s report, from August 2022 to January 2025, firearms evidence test times increased from 42 weeks to 67 weeks.
Some worry more delays in testing at the Nashville, Jackson, and Knoxville labs will mean more delays in justice.
“Without addressing the constraint of limited lab space, the state’s effort to improve forensic evidence processing and public safety will be hindered,” Madison Thorn, a senior research associate for TACIR said.
In the report, TACIR recommends the state expand its Nashville and Jackson labs, replace the Knoxville lab with a larger facility that includes firearms testing, and add a smaller, focused lab in Chattanooga for drug evidence and toxicology.
However, some lawmakers questioned how quickly the labs would run out of capacity again, considering the state just expanded its Jackson lab in 2021.
“It would have been a far less expenditure for the state to build a larger project that was finished in 2021, or at least have the capacity to finish out the lab spaces within a larger footprint in 2021, than to now undertake an entirely new process four years after completion,” Sen. Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville) said.
“I think the demand grew more than they anticipated, and they had to hire staff more quickly than anticipated, and that’s given them the need for more space,” Thorn replied.
Some said with the growth happening across Tennessee, the issue is inevitable.
“I think it’s like our local municipality. We’re being asked to build two new schools at the very same time that we’re expanding the schools that just got finished. I’m not sure there is ever going to be a place where we build enough capacity in these crime labs. Unfortunately, it is a growing problem all across this state,” Cleveland Mayor Kevin Brooks said. “My bigger question is, is the general assembly prepared for the funding it will require to make these recommendations possible? I look to my colleagues to say, okay, this is a great recommendation, but it’s going to be expensive, sadly.”
TACIR’s report includes some cost estimates from the TBI’s real estate strategic plan for the labs, which estimates the Knoxville and Jackson lab projects could cost anywhere from $44 million to $66 million. The overall cost of completing all the projects remains unclear, “in part, because TBI plans to conduct further analysis of the need for additional space at the Nashville lab, and it plans to use a lease with a build-to-suit option in Chattanooga,” the report said.
To read the full TACIR study with the group’s recommendations, click here.
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