Proposed new DNA lab for forensic center in Sedgwick County is on hold

A proposed expansion at the Sedgwick County Regional Forensic Science Center would meet increasing demand for DNA evidence, improve the ability to prevent contamination of samples and speed up identification of suspects, a county budget document says.

In an interview last week, center director Tim Rohrig said that although a new DNA lab is needed, “We’re OK right now as far as the contamination issues go.” There is a sufficient prevention system now, he said.

While the project is on the county budget “watch list” now, there is no timetable for building a new DNA lab, replacing one used since 1995. The project is estimated to cost $4.28 million. Funding for it has not been included in the current recommended budget.

Ninety-eight to 99 percent of the DNA testing done by the regional center, off I-135 east of downtown Wichita, is for law enforcement agencies in the county, Rohrig said. DNA tested by the lab can be recovered from just about any surface. As evidence, it can be key to identifying or eliminating a suspect.

The taxpayer-funded center does the work for agencies in the county at no charge. The center also does autopsies, DUI testing and toxicology testing to determine whether a person had alcohol or drugs in their system.

A summary of the DNA lab proposal, authored by Rohrig and on Page 767 of the recommended 2016 budget, summarizes the consequences of not building a new DNA lab: “Continued use of current space will result in an increased case backlog and an environment prone to contamination. Once contamination issues occur, challenges to results will be met in the courtroom and highlighted in the media.”

A new DNA lab also would allow for DNA files to remain on-site rather than being stored at the courthouse or at salt mines in Hutchinson. Another consequence, the summary says, is that “Requests for archived files result in extreme delays in data access; off site storage will result in the delay of suspect identifications in high profile violent crimes.”

Rohrig said in the interview: “Do we have a big problem now? No. But you can’t build a building overnight.”

Mark Rudy, the new chief public defender for Sedgwick County, said in an e-mail that concerns raised by Rohrig “about the consequences of not building a new DNA testing facility in Sedgwick County are accurate, and more challenges will be made to the evidence if there is even a hint of contamination. … If evidence surfaces that there are contamination issues in the current lab, the floodgates certainly would open,” and past convictions that relied on DNA evidence could be affected.

Marc Bennett, the district attorney whose cases increasingly rely on DNA evidence, said the current DNA lab does “great work” and that “at this point, I don’t see an issue” as far as contamination.

Bennett and Rudy noted how DNA evidence has become more prevalent and expected by juries in the past two decades. In 1995, Bennett said, DNA was a novelty, limited to murder cases and, occasionally, sex crimes. Now, DNA evidence is used not only in homicides and sex crimes but also in property crimes, Bennett said.

The new lab would be built on an adjacent lot owned by the county.

The current DNA lab has been in place for 20 years, and the summary notes: “The demands of the criminal justice system have focused on a more rigorous form of DNA analysis, which has overwhelmed the current DNA staff and lab space.” Even if he had more DNA lab staff members, Rohrig said, he wouldn’t have space for them to work. The summary notes that relocating the DNA lab would allow for expansion of the toxicology lab, which is too cramped to allow for any new equipment.

A new DNA lab would keep pace for the next 10 to 20 years and would allow for the use of robotics and other new technology, he said. More and more, DNA testing requires specialized engineering. The new lab would have pressurized air control to keep contaminants out and would have “decontamination/gowning areas,” the summary says.

Another issue is storage of DNA files. Many of the files are stored in the Hutchinson salt mines, and retrieving the files can take up to 72 hours, although that can be expedited with priority cases, Rohrig said.

Richard Ranzau, chairman of the Sedgwick County Commission, which has the ultimate say on the project, said commissioners so far have received no formal briefing on the project, that “we need a lot more information” and that it’s hard to say when or whether the project could be done.

“It doesn’t appear to be urgent right now, but it is something that we can start planning for,” Ranzau said.

Commissioner Dave Unruh said it sounds like a project “we have to plan on doing” and that “it’s just part of our whole public safety responsibility.” Still, Unruh said, it can be deferred a year.

Having a cash-only approach to funding such projects, a means that some commissioners embrace, is “not a reasonable management decision,” Unruh said.

It would take a long time to save up the nearly $4.3 million for the project, he said.

This story was originally published August 1, 2015 at 1:06 PM.