CSU toxicology lab to process county drug tests, aiming for same‑day results

Larimer County presenters described a new collaboration with Colorado State University's analytical toxicology laboratory to analyze urine drug tests locally and shorten turnaround times critical to safety and case management.

Jacob Hupp, assistant director for Larimer County Community Corrections, said the county currently sends tests to an out‑of‑state vendor and must meet Division of Criminal Justice (DCJ) standards that test results be returned within three business days. He said delays to confirmations have caused operational and safety difficulties. "We are projecting to send over to CSU... close to 2,700" samples on a 30‑day average, Hupp said, underscoring the volume that would benefit from faster local results.

Dr. Greg Dooley, director of CSU's analytical toxicology laboratory, described the lab's existing infrastructure (about $2 million in analytical instrumentation) and a two‑step process: a high‑throughput screening run followed by targeted confirmations. "We can analyze that day, essentially get results out that afternoon," Dooley said, describing equipment that can process hundreds of screens per hour and local confirmation testing that is faster than multistate shipping to commercial labs.

Presenters emphasized chain of custody: samples would be transferred person‑to‑person within Fort Collins (a short drive) rather than shipped across states, reducing the risk of lost or compromised samples and improving evidentiary quality for court testimony. Dooley said local confirmation methods let the lab include broader panels (including emerging synthetics and prescription drugs such as bupropion, gabapentin and buprenorphine) and change methods quickly to match local use patterns.

On cost, presenters said per‑sample costs may be roughly comparable initially because of reagent pricing, but confirmations and customer service will be cheaper and more timely. Emily Humphrey said much of the testing would be paid from DCJ funding (275) and that some community testing would be funded from county general funds (101) and reconciled as appropriate.

County staff said the goal is to pilot and then scale the model; if successful, other counties could adopt similar local testing partnerships to reduce reliance on distant labs. Presenters invited commissioners and staff to tour the CSU lab and explore operational details before contracting is completed.