LOCAL

Memphis lab to test rape kits part of Memphis City Council budget 'wish list'

Katherine Burgess
Memphis Commercial Appeal

The creation of a crime lab in Memphis is one item on the Memphis City Council’s “wish list.”

Council members Monday asked the Memphis Police Department to bring back dollar figures on the cost to build a crime lab in the area.

Currently, forensic evidence like rape kits from Memphis are processed in a lab in Jackson, Tennessee.

“This is such a priority,” said Councilman Worth Morgan. “These victims deserve a faster turnaround time. Guess what? They’re not getting it from the state.”

The issue rose to prominence most recently after the high-profile kidnapping and murder of Eliza Fletcher. After his arrest in Fletcher’s case, Cleotha Henderson was linked to a 2021 rape case via a sexual assault kit that sat untested in a Jackson crime lab for nearly a year. The city also faces a longstanding lawsuit over rape kit backlogs.

Morgan, during discussions about MPD’s budget for the upcoming year, proposed setting aside about $600,000 for architecture and engineering for a Memphis forensic crime lab. That suggestion was supported by all council members present and voting.

Whether that will be included in the final budget approved by the Memphis City Council remains to be seen. Council members have discussed creating their “wish list” and then seeing what can and cannot be included.

Council Chairman Martavius Jones said he agreed with Morgan on the importance of an area crime lab.

“Knowing the peace of mind we could give to some victims, to me this goes back to priority,” Jones said, “imploring” MPD to bring back financial information on a potential crime lab.

MPD Chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis told council members she was open to “doing the footwork on what a crime lab would look like in this region.”

One option is pursuing a regional crime lab, with entities other than MPD also using the lab and providing funding, she said.

Alternately, MPD could explore contracting with private entities who meet state standards to do testing of rape kits, Davis said.

Earlier this year, a bill died in the state legislature that would have required TBI to test rape kits within 30 days.

According to a Tennessean analysis of state data, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation crime labs at one point averaged more than 34 weeks to process sex offense evidence, with turnaround times as long as 49 weeks at the understaffed Jackson lab.

Katherine Burgess covers government and religion. She can be reached at katherine.burgess@commercialappeal.com or followed on Twitter @kathsburgess.