What's next in the push for Memphis crime lab? Here's where things stand

Brooke Muckerman and Lucas Finton, Memphis Commercial Appeal
·3 min read

The push to get a crime lab back in Memphis and Shelby County now includes efforts from both local and state governments. The Shelby County Board of Commissioners and the Tennessee General Assembly currently have legislation that could fund feasibility studies to get a crime lab located in the area.

A feasibility study is an assessment that evaluates a proposed plan or project's practicality.

Discussion about having a crime lab in Shelby County roared in the weeks after Eliza Fletcher, a Memphis teacher and runner, was abducted and later found dead. Conversations centered around a rape kit that took about a year to process with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation — which has a crime lab in Jackson which processes much of the evidence collected by local law enforcement — that matched DNA to Cleotha Abston.

More: Initial funding OKed for Shelby County inmate mental health, diversion center

Abston was arrested and charged with Fletcher's abduction and murder and was convicted of the 2021 of a different woman earlier this month.

In recent months, Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy has been among the loudest in calling for a local crime lab. A concrete plan has not yet been established by Mulroy for how the lab would function.

Shelby County Commissioners give funding to crime commission

During Monday night's Shelby County Commission meeting, commissioners unanimously passed a resolution giving the Memphis Shelby County Crime Commission $50,000 to conduct a feasibility study of having a crime lab in Memphis.

Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr. sponsored the resolution. The money would be going towards the University of Memphis to conduct the study, while both bills in the state legislature would be going towards the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations to conduct its own study.

The Shelby County Commission met at 160 N. Main Street for a meeting on September 11, 2023 in Memphis, Tenn.
The Shelby County Commission met at 160 N. Main Street for a meeting on September 11, 2023 in Memphis, Tenn.

Ford said during committee that the $50,000 would add to "existing works" regarding a study. It is currently unclear whether the study from TACIR and the Crime Commission would be separate or the same.

"I don't think it makes much sense to be conducting separate studies," Bill Gibbons, President of the Memphis Shelby County Crime Commission, said in an email.

Bill in state legislature making its way through

In the Tennessee Senate last week, Senators unanimously passed a bill that would fund a feasibility study for a crime lab in Memphis and Shelby County. The Senate bill is sponsored by State Sen. Sara Kyle, a Memphis Democrat, who was out Thursday and unable to present the bill.

Sen. Todd Gardenhire, a Chattanooga Republican who co-sponsored the bill, presented on the Senate Floor in her stead.

"This bill, by the way, passed the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously and the Senate Finance Committee 10 to one, with one wayward, misguided soul," Gardenhire said on the floor to laughter.

There was no additional discussion on the bill and no objections. A sister bill in the House, filed by Rep. G.A. Hardaway, a Memphis Democrat, has over 75 co-sponsors — that include Republicans and Democrats — and is currently awaiting a committee vote in the House Finance, Ways and Means Subcommittee.

State Rep. G.A. Hardaway exits the “Celebration of Life” service for former U.S. Congressman and Tennessee Gov. Don Sundquist at Christ Church Memphis in Memphis, Tenn., on Thursday, August 31, 2023.
State Rep. G.A. Hardaway exits the “Celebration of Life” service for former U.S. Congressman and Tennessee Gov. Don Sundquist at Christ Church Memphis in Memphis, Tenn., on Thursday, August 31, 2023.

The House bill passed the Criminal Justice Subcommittee and Committee on a voice vote. The study would have a Jan. 14, 2025 deadline to be submitted.

When asked by a reporter with The Commercial Appeal if TACIR's study would be publicly available, and available for public officials to read in its entirety, State Sen. Brent Taylor, a Republican representing Eads and other parts of Shelby County, said it should be.

"I see no reason why the public wouldn't be able to access the study," Taylor, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a text message.

Lucas Finton is a criminal justice reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com, or (901)208-3922, and followed on X, formerly known as Twitter, @LucasFinton.

Brooke Muckerman covers Shelby County Government for The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at brooke.muckerman@commercialappeal.com and followed on X, formerly known as Twitter @BrookeMuckerman.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis crime lab: Here's where proposals for the facility stand