SLED: New forensic lab cut overall backlog but DNA and firearms testing still strained

SLED Chief Mark Keel told the House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Subcommittee on Tuesday that the agency’s new forensic laboratory — brought online in December 2022 — has substantially increased throughput but still faces persistent backlogs in firearms and DNA analysis.

Keel said the laboratory completed 25,298 cases in fiscal 2024, up from 19,341 in fiscal 2023 — a 30.8% increase — and highlighted a 95% reduction in gunshot-residue backlog in the trace-evidence unit and a maintained 30-day turnaround in toxicology. “It has done just what we had hoped it would do,” Keel said of the new facility.

The improvements matter for investigations and prosecutions across South Carolina: the SLED lab receives roughly 25,000 new cases a year, Keel said, and those cases can include many pieces of evidence routed to several different forensic units. “One case could have 100 pieces of evidence,” he said, explaining why counts of cases, submitted items and laboratory assignments differ.

Keel told the committee that two laboratory disciplines still carry significant backlogs: firearms/tool mark analysis and DNA casework. He described ongoing hiring and training to address DNA capacity, saying the department was authorized for 15 full-time positions in a recent budget, and that when all authorized positions are filled the DNA casework unit will total 30 full-time equivalents, with 22 forensic scientists trained for DNA analysis, up from eight previously. Keel said most of those positions have been filled and that the remaining new hire is awaiting a start date.

Keel also described how case and evidence flows operate at the laboratory.…