Commissioners approved a contract with Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences, or SWIFS, to perform DNA tests for pending cases at a meeting Tuesday morning. The county has 112 pending cases, consisting mostly of defendants in jail waiting for DNA results for trial purposes.

After the Austin Police Department indefinitely shut down its DNA lab last year due to a number of serious issues, the county was forced to find other avenues of testing. The county has been working with local labs including Sorenson and Signature Sciences labs to get the work done but has been delayed due to the influx of cases from the APD.

Recently, the county has been outsourcing DNA testing in hopes of receiving results in a faster time frame. Still, options are limited.

“There are nationwide about four labs that will accept outsourcing for DNA,” said Director of Operations for the District Attorney’s Office Gregg Cox. “We are fortunate here in Texas that we have a few in-state options that aren’t on the national circuit including SWIFS and the University of North Texas.”

Cox said when the APD DNA lab shuttered they began to send everything to the Austin DPS lab, which was quickly overwhelmed as well.

“Now it’s taking six to nine months to get anything back even if you ask for a rush,” Cox said. “We started having to outsource because we had judges faced with needing to let seriously dangerous people out of jail because of the delay.”

Cox said there are a few other options for the county to consider, including the DPS lab, which is at capacity, and the Capitol Area Regional Lab, which will not be available until the fall.

“So, our options are SWIFS and the very limited number of cases that go to UNT,” Cox said. “At this point, we have at least 112 pending cases waiting on DNA. Everything is taking months and we’re trying to get that down to a faster timeline by doing triage on the evidence, limiting the number of samples we request testing on, prioritizing the cases and focusing on cases where defendants are in jail with a trial setting, and manage costs as best we can.”

Cox added that he expects the county will spend at least $240,000 this year on outsourcing private labs. They will also submit a budget request for next year because they will still have cases in the pipeline that need testing even after Capitol Area Regional Lab opens.