NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee’s top investigative agency is seeking $2 million contracts with outside labs to process 1,000 rape kits it says must be tested by the end of June.
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation released RFP for up to three contractors, as state turnaround times for sexual assault kits continue to come under scrutiny after murder high profile of a teacher. Eliza Fletcher in September. Contractors should also testify about tested rape kits, if needed in court cases.
In October, the agency said the average turnaround time for a rape kit was 43 weeks at the Knoxville lab, 42.4 weeks at the Jackson lab, and 32.7 weeks at the Nashville lab. The office wants the contractors signed by the end of January.
The agency has attributed the delays agency-wide staffing issues and low salaries that make it difficult to recruit and retain scientists, in addition to other professionals. The questions will likely spark many conversations during the legislative session that begins next month.
Republican Governor Bill Lee announced in late September that he and lawmakers were accelerated funding to hire another 25 forensic laboratory positions. The agency had requested another 40 special agent/forensic scientist positions and 10 additional technicians in the current budget, but Lee and lawmakers initially funded half that amount.
Eighteen new special agents/forensic scientists have started since September, while 22 are in the process of being recruited, backgrounded or relocated, agency spokesman Keli McAlister said.
There are several different roles for agency forensic pathologists other than DNA, ranging from toxicology to forensic chemistry. In the first wave of positions approved for the current budget, for example, the 20 new Special Agent/Forensic Specialist positions funded included eight Forensic Biology/DNA positions.
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch said the agency has several other approaches in the works, as it aims to reduce turnaround times to eight to 12 weeks in a year for all evidence. Some efforts include: offering overtime for lab workers; running the labs on weekends; and contracting retired TBI workers to help provide training so that current scientists can devote their time to training employees for more case work.
Problems with Tennessee’s rape kit testing were laid bare after Fletcher’s murder.
Authorities have confirmed that the man accused of abducting and killing Fletcher has not been charged in the 2021 woman rape case due to the delay in processing the sexual assault kit.
Cleotha Henderson was eventually charged in the case just days after her arrest in the Fletcher’s deathmother of two children and kindergarten teacher.
In the previous case, Memphis police said they took a sexual assault report on Sept. 21, 2021, but it wasn’t analyzed at a state lab until nearly a year later. When the 2021 DNA was entered into the national database, it returned a match for Henderson on September 5. Fletcher disappeared on September 2.
TBI said Memphis police made no request for an expedited analysis of the kit, which may reduce the wait to just a few days, and no suspicious information was included in the submission.
Henderson made a brief appearance before a Shelby County Criminal Court judge on the rape charge on Friday. Her defense attorney said she was receiving evidence from prosecutors and a judge set a report date for February 3. Henderson has pleaded not guilty.
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Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee contributed to this report.
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