Arapahoe County DA asks commissioners to clear submission of $500,000 federal cold‑case grant

Arapahoe County’s District Attorney’s office on Wednesday asked the Board of County Commissioners to allow the county to submit a federal grant application aimed at advancing cold‑case investigations.

The DA’s office said the opportunity could provide up to $500,000 over three years, targeted at cases with known suspect DNA profiles. "What we would be using this grant money for is ideally, if we receive this money, to create dedicated cold case paralegal that could then take all of the cold case files from all of our law enforcement agencies, create a catalog and inventory for them," the DA’s office said, adding the position would help digitize handwritten files and prioritize cases for advanced testing.

Why it matters: County staff said DNA testing capacity is constrained statewide and that newer techniques—particularly forensic genetic genealogy—have helped solve decades‑old crimes. The office cited the Golden State Killer as an illustration of the investigative approach: "One of the most famous cases solved in the last couple of years with that technology is the Golden State Killer… [where] you're able to construct a family tree and then use traditional police investigation techniques to find out who could have had the opportunity and lived in the area at the time," the presentation said.

What the grant would pay for: Presenters said the application proposes hiring a contract paralegal to work about 29 hours per week to digitize and catalog case files across local agencies, create a prioritization system (for example, high‑priority cases with usable suspect DNA), and send selected cases for forensic genetic genealogy or enhanced DNA testing. Staff also noted an existing statewide backlog for cold‑case DNA analysis and said grant funds could be used to outsource testing to other labs when local capacity is limited.

Board concerns and safeguards: Commissioners asked whether the application had been filed and in whose name; staff clarified the application is in Arapahoe County’s name and would be submitted today. Commissioners also raised standard concerns about federal grant assurances and contract language; the county attorney’s office said it had reviewed the application language and would review any subsequent award agreement to ensure it did not include provisions inconsistent with county policy.

Next steps: The DA asked for approval to submit the application today and to complete the necessary signature authorization paperwork on a subsequent consent agenda. Commissioners signaled verbal support for submitting the application, and staff said they would move forward with the filing and circle back to the board if any problematic contract terms appear.

The DA’s office and county staff provided the board with a timeline for using grant funds across three years if awarded, with the goal of identifying a modest number of cases (staff estimated 5–15) for full trial preparation by the third year.