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Sheriff's office seeks $500,000 lab instrument to add local confirmatory toxicology testing
Summary
Sheriff's officials asked commissioners to approve a $500,000 transfer from lab restricted funds to buy a lab instrument that would allow local confirmatory testing for drugs in blood and urine, reducing the need to send samples to the state lab and supporting regional needs and the medical examiner; the board approved the request.
Sheriff's Office staff and the county's new laboratory director, Lori Bruske, told commissioners the county lab currently cannot perform confirmatory toxicology testing for many controlled substances in blood and urine and must send samples to the Michigan State Police Lansing laboratory.
"One of our limitations is toxicology; we cannot do confirmatory testing in blood and urine," the lab director said. She explained a new instrument would allow the county to confirm drugs locally, expand services to regional partners and potentially reduce outside testing costs for the medical examiner's office.
Staff requested a $500,000 transfer from lab restricted funds to purchase the instrument and said three trained toxicologists are on staff and no additional hires would be needed for the new capability. Commissioners asked about procurement and validation timelines; staff said the bidding process could be completed quickly and internal validation would follow.
The board approved the transfer and recommended advancing the procurement process; the clerk recorded the motion as passing with unanimous support where indicated.
Ending: Staff will proceed with vendor solicitation, validation and training to bring local confirmatory toxicology testing online, and will report back on procurement and operational timelines.
