The State Crime Lab deals with evidence related to crimes and crime scenes for agencies throughout the state. Trace evidence includes even the smallest quantity of such materials as hair, fiber, glass, paint, and explosives. Equipment involved, such as high intensity microscopes and imaging systems, is both expensive and highly technical. This type of equipment is beyond the capacity of most local law enforcement agencies. Sexual assault protocols have been established and provided to doctors and nurses in emergency rooms throughout the state to preserve and protect the evidence needed in such cases. DNA testing is now done on state-of-the-art instrumentation.

The Crime Lab receives some funding from the DNA Specimen Account. Much of the responsibility of processing DNA has moved from the Department of Corrections to Public Safety (2010 General Session).

In addition to statewide compensation and internal service fund cost increases, the following appropriation adjustments were made during the 2015 General Session:

A major source of revenue in this program are funds from the DNA specimen account. Lower collections than expected in this account have created a DNA backlog. To help address this issue the Legislature set aside $1.5 million in General Fund over a period of five years to address this backlog.

A difficulty the Crime Lab has is finding and hiring candidates with the required skills to fulfill the job requirements. Also as the positions are time-limited, this makes filling them even more problematic.