The midwest regional forensic laboratory (mrfl) provides forensic science service in the areas of biology/DNA, latent prints, drug chemistry, and toxicology for all the law enforcement agencies within…

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) awarded a $188,403 Formula Grant under the Comprehensive Forensic DNA Analysis Grant Program (CFDA 16.036) to the County of Anoka, Minnesota. The grant funding will be used by the Midwest Regional Forensic Laboratory (MRFL), operated by the county, to extend the employment of a DNA analyst hired under a previous grant. This will allow the laboratory to continue processing DNA evidence and reduce the average turnaround time for DNA requests from 190 days to 90 days, while also increasing the total number of DNA requests completed by 10% annually over the 2-year grant period ending September 2026. The grant will cover all expenses for the DNA analyst position, enabling the laboratory to enhance its DNA analysis capacity and productivity to support criminal investigations across Anoka, Sherburne, and Wright counties in Minnesota.

The midwest regional forensic laboratory (mrfl) provides forensic science service in the areas of biology/DNA, latent prints, drug chemistry, and toxicology for all the law enforcement agencies within the minnesota counties of anoka, sherburne, and wright. The biology section will be using the funds from the FY24 capacity enhancement for backlog reduction (cebr) grant to extend employment of a hire from the FY22 cebr grant or an additional two years. This grant will pay all expenses for this employee through september 2026. IT is anticipated that this scientist will complete DNA training by the early 2025. At the end of 2023, the biology laboratory was operating at about a 190 day average turnaround on all DNA requests for service. The laboratory has two goals with the grant funding: the laboratory would like to reduce the laboratory turnaround time for DNA cases to 90 days, and increase the number of DNA requests completed section wide by 10 percent per year of the grant.