Travis County is getting involved in the city of Austin’s DNA testing issues with a proposed interlocal agreement between the county and city.

At Travis County Commissioners Court on Tuesday, commissioners heard an update on a potential review of DNA testing from Trudy Strassburger, deputy director of the Capital Area Private Defender Service. Commissioners did not take action on the item Tuesday, but county Judge Sarah Eckhardt said the court will take several actions in December and through January related to the agreement.

What happened

The Austin Police Department Forensic Services Division DNA Unit shuttered indefinitely after the Texas Forensics Science Commission's recent audit, which found a number of serious issues with the unit including contaminated DNA samples and failure to follow proper lab protocols. APD recently signed agreements with Southwestern Institute of Forensic Science and Signature Science to assist in clearing the backlog of 3,000 sexual assault test kits the department has accumulated.

CAPDS is proposing a 5-year process to review the city's DNA cases to determine how what happened with the lab will affect past and pending court cases, and to look forward at best practices for DNA testing, Strassburger said.

At the lab in question, DNA cases were impacted by carryover contamination, in which DNA samples can be contaminated by an issue such as placing two vials with different DNA samples too close together, Strassburger said. Techs at the lab also said they had not been changing the solution used to screen for DNA evidence, causing the lab to miss identifying exculpatory evidence, she said.

“When there’s circumstantial evidence and no forensic evidence, mistakes happen,” she said, pointing out a photograph of Tim Cole, who was convicted, died in prison and was later exonerated by DNA evidence.

What’s next

Strassburger said CAPDS is willing to take on the APD lab crisis but needs funding.

Roger Jefferies, county executive of justice and public safety, said the city and county are working with CAPDS and the district attorney’s offices to develop documents including a scope of work for commissioners’ review.

“We’ll be bringing four different agreements for you to consider over the next few weeks,” he told the court.

What it means

Ultimately, the exact cost of DNA testing efforts as part of the interlocal agreement has not been determined yet. Eckhardt said the backlog will probably take about a decade to resolve.

Commissioner Ron Davis said the county is limited in terms of funding.

“Sooner or later somebody is going to have to put something on the table and tell us exactly what it’s going to cost us,” he said.

Eckhardt said she has asked the city to take $1.4 million identified in the city’s budget process for additional personnel in the DNA lab and apply it toward these efforts.

Commissioner Brigid Shea said those in charge of the APD lab that was shut down should be held accountable.

“If we have a system that presumes people are guilty and looks for the evidence that’s the complete opposite of what we say our whole democratic institutions are about. The people are presumed innocent form the start,” Shea said.