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Wake County opens local DNA lab, seeks ISO accreditation and CODIS connectivity
Summary
The Bureau of Forensic Services described completion of DNA lab renovations and validation steps, federal and state grant funding totaling about $825,000, and a county total project cost of roughly $1.6 million; staff applied for ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation and expect CODIS access after accreditation, estimating initial capacity of about 600 cases per year.
Sam, representing the Bureau of Forensic Services, updated the committee on the county’s local DNA laboratory project and accreditation progress.
Sam traced the project timeline from 2021 funding requests through construction (completed May 2022) and stepwise equipment and software purchases funded by federal Community Project Grants and Governor’s Crime Commission grants. He listed purchases and validation milestones: $375,000 in design and construction funded with court‑ordered laboratory fees; $500,000 in federal community project grant funding for equipment; $325,000 from the Governor’s Crime Commission to support validation and supplies; the LIMS DNA module purchased for $46,000; and StarMix deconvolution software for approximately $105,000. Sam summarized total project funding as roughly $1,600,000 including county funds.
He said validation of instrumentation and methods was completed and that the bureau would apply for ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation; the accreditation application was scheduled for Oct. 31. Once accredited, Sam said the laboratory expects to be able to connect to the FBI‑managed CODIS database. Sam told the committee the county expects to process an estimated 600 cases per year initially (not including sexual‑assault kit work, which will be phased in) and emphasized that local control of the lab will allow Wake County to prioritize local cases and shorten turnarounds.
On backlog, Sam cited a 2022 figure that showed statewide DNA analysis turnaround at about 430 days and said local capacity should dramatically shorten typical analysis times for prioritized cases. He added the bureau will begin with assault and violent‑crime evidence and expand as capacity allows.
