Committee recommends $15 million for Rutherford County regional forensic center; construction planned in Smyrna

Rutherford County commissioners on the Property Management Committee voted to send a favorable recommendation to the county budget to build a Rutherford County Regional Forensic Center and to appropriate $15,000,000 from unassigned fund balance to fund construction of the facility on I Street in Smyrna.

Mr. Hennessy, speaking on behalf of the mayor’s office, introduced the project and asked the committee to view it as a countywide priority supported by multiple public-safety and public-health agencies. “We’re here tonight to talk about the need for a forensic center,” he said. He cited a Tennessee Department of Health–commissioned feasibility study that recommended an additional regional forensic center to relieve strain on the Middle Tennessee Regional Forensic Center.

Denise Martin, who identified herself on the record as the county supervisor of death investigations, described operational issues that she and local responders face without a local forensic center. Martin said Rutherford County does not currently have its own morgue, described repeated delays and communication problems with the regional center in Nashville, and recounted cases in which delayed toxicology or autopsy reporting hampered investigations. “The report... states that…