SLED reports reduced lab backlogs, new helicopter firefighting capability and asks for personnel, IT and equipment funding

The State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) chief briefed the Legislative Budget Subcommittee on staffing, laboratory results and recent equipment additions and requested additional recurring and nonrecurring funding for personnel and technology.

Chief Kiel told the panel SLED expanded its DNA staff from eight analysts to 17, with three more casework analysts completing the hiring process, which will raise analysts to 20. The agency reported a 30.8 percent increase in completed DNA cases year-over-year, from 19,341 to 25,298, and said the trace evidence unit reduced a gunshot-residue backlog by about 95 percent. Drug-analysis backlog fell roughly 19.6 percent after the additional hires and equipment adjustments.

Kiel described a recently received Bell 412 helicopter that has been outfitted and certified for firefighting with Bambi-bucket capability; the agency completed factory training and Bambi-bucket instruction that will let SLED assist South Carolina Forestry with wildland firefighting and help with air rescue and swift-water rescue missions. He said the aircraft will also support other state needs such as wildlife-stocking operations with the Department of Natural Resources.

SLED also highlighted the South Carolina Critical Infrastructure and Cybersecurity Program, saying it now serves more than 200 organizations (local governments, school districts and other public entities) and provides incident response and remediation support when those organizations experience cyber incidents.

The chief outlined budget priorities including continued funding for rank/step changes for criminal-justice personnel, roughly 29 additional FTEs across multiple functions including a statewide sexual-assault-kit tracking position, and recurring and nonrecurring IT needs: server and disaster‑recovery replacement, additional forensic workstations, storage expansion and increased bandwidth to support CJIS traffic. He also requested recurring vehicle funding ($500,000) and various nonrecurring items such as bomb-squad and counterterrorism equipment, and additional forensic lab instruments.

Kiel noted SLED’s animal-seizure work: the agency seized approximately 205 dogs last year in dog‑fighting investigations, and boarding and veterinary costs create an operational expense; he said most seized animals are relinquished and ultimately adopted, though some with severe injuries may be euthanized.

Separately, Kiel asked legislators to consider a bill to give SLED explicit authority to possess criminal histories to support certification and decertification processes; he said the FBI and federal guidance indicate state-level statutory authority is required to hold those records for SLED’s administrative enforcement work. The chief said SLED’s misconduct statutes are robust and cited the proposed authority as a tool for more efficient certification and discipline processes.

The presentation included questions from senators about detention resources related to federal immigration work and about helicopter range and costs. SLED requested $5,000,000 in additional federal authorization for grant handling and detailed a range of IT and forensic investments that the agency said are necessary to sustain laboratory turnaround times and statewide cyber support.