Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
SLED seeks funds for forensics, IT modernization and aviation hangar amid staffing pressures
Loading...
Summary
SLED officials told lawmakers the agency needs recurring and one-time appropriations for personnel step increases, forensic upgrades (LC‑QTOF and IBIS), IT modernization ($1.8M data center phase), and a $7M aviation hangar to improve flight safety and house new aircraft.
SLED senior leaders told the committee they face recruitment and retention challenges, growing statewide requests for services and rising recurring costs that require a mix of operating and capital funding.
The agency reported completing a PD regional office on Francis Marion’s campus with earmarked funds (roughly $17 million used to renovate a former facility) and ongoing renovations at the Center for School Safety (about $9 million). The director (name not stated on the transcript) said priority requests include maintaining internal rank/career-path compensation, new HR and analyst positions, and funding to make permanent an existing temporary fraud-investigation analyst position.
Forensics and technology: Todd Huey, Forensic Services Laboratory Director, requested recurring operating funds for analytical software and licensing and detailed capital/technology needs including $280,000 to maintain IBIS (ballistics matching), $320,000 for vacuum metal deposition to improve latent prints, and a $440,000 liquid chromatograph–quadrupole time-of-flight (LC‑QTOF) mass spectrometer to detect novel psychoactive substances. Huey said the lab remains internationally accredited and needs technology to keep pace with casework.
IT and security: Monte Coats and Ryan Truskey outlined criminal-justice information system upgrades (continuation funding, DCIS agent licenses) and IT modernization: $415,000 for refreshed workstations, cloud migration of an internal ticketing system, and a three-year plan that includes $1.8 million for data-center modernization. Truskey also requested $30,000 for external penetration testing to identify security gaps.
Aviation and safety: The agency requested $7,000,000 nonrecurring to build an on-state-footprint aviation hangar on 25 acres being transferred from Department of Corrections, saying the new site would avoid flights over buildings and power lines and would house new aircraft and specialized vehicles.
Costs and recurring needs: SLED cited increased workers' compensation costs (from earlier years to about $1.4 million) and asked for $550,000 to replace body‑worn cameras under a five‑year contract; it also requested additional fuel and cloud/database subscriptions. The Palmetto 800 interoperability system (about 47,000 users statewide) was flagged as a statewide public-safety priority with funding issues under review by the House.
Quotes and committee reaction: Monte Coats said the CJIS upgrades will “give us a good shot in the arm for our statistical analysis,” and Todd Huey emphasized the lab’s new toxicology capabilities for identifying designer drugs. Lawmakers thanked SLED for responsiveness and pressed on salary commission status and implementation details. No appropriation votes occurred in this hearing.
