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Regional Forensic Science Center requests CIP and warns of space, maintenance and toxicology funding risks
Summary
Center staff told commissioners they are fully trained and staffed, that space constraints and rising instrument costs risk case backlogs, and that a $19 million CIP to expand lab space is a priority.
Katie Asbury, senior administrative officer at the Regional Forensic Science Center, told commissioners on May 15 that the center is fully staffed and that demand for services is growing even as space, maintenance and federal funding risks threaten capacity.
Asbury said mandatory services include autopsy and pathology, medical investigations, evidence management, toxicology and DNA testing. She told the commission the center recently achieved staffing stability after earlier training losses and has set up an equipment replacement fund.
Why it matters: staff said limited lab and storage space and rising maintenance and procurement costs could create toxicology and autopsy backlogs that would affect criminal prosecutions and death investigations.
Asbury listed opportunities including expanded instrumentation and a possible revenue increase from taking out-of-county autopsy cases; she said the center is discussing a partnership with Riley County to accept additional autopsies later this year or next. She identified a $19 million capital-improvement project (CIP) request to expand laboratory space among the department's highest priorities.
Operational risks included a growing number of unclaimed remains, reliance on single staff for critical tasks in some areas, expiring toxicology send-out funding and increasing tariffs and instrument maintenance costs. The center estimated an additional roughly $80,000 per year for instrument maintenance and service contracts.
Budget officials said the center's overall budget is slightly smaller than the prior year and is just under $6,000,000, primarily general-fund supported and heavily weighted toward personnel and contractual instrument costs. Asbury said the center had not submitted reduction packages but is expecting some revenue opportunities for out-of-county services.
Dr. Kelly Stedman, who spoke about building plans, described a campus approach: keep autopsy and toxicology in the existing central building while moving other forensic laboratories to a separate building across the street (the current health department parking lot) to free space for autopsy and DNA work.
Commissioners asked about a cremains bill that did not pass this year; staff said they were told to expect legislation next year that would help the center.
Asbury and Stedman emphasized that space and equipment funding are near-term priorities and that staffing stability has improved after prior attrition; the center asked commissioners to consider the CIP request in the county capital plan.
