UNION COUNTY, N.C. — A new crime lab in Union County should help law enforcement with a quicker turnaround on crucial evidence.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office unveiled its new crime lab earlier this month, part of its multi-million-dollar new headquarters.

The lab will also help take some of the workload off the state crime lab, based in Raleigh, where Union County was sending much of its evidence for testing prior to the new lab.

Ten employees work in the lab currently with expectations to grow in the future. The new facility, nestled in the headquarters for the sheriff’s office, is the brainchild of four years of planning and a combination of public, grant and donated funding dating back to 2018. 

“To be able to have this locally, and to be able to get the results in a very short period of time is very exciting,” chief deputy Tony Underwood said.

So far, the lab is accredited through ANAB to process blood-alcohol toxicology and latent prints from crime scenes. In the past, Underwood said blood-alcohol evidence, sent to the state crime lab in Raleigh, would take six to nine months to return.

“They’re the best in the business, they’re great at what they do. But, it’s just getting the results from the evidence and the items that are submitted to the lab — getting them back in a timely fashion has been a frustration for many years for law enforcement,” Underwood lamented.

Spectrum News 1 reached out to the state crime lab to ask how the lightened work load would potentially reduce wait times for other municipalities. The Union County Sheriff’s Office estimates it sent 15 to 20 samples of blood alcohol evidence to Raleigh in a typical month, which it can now handle in house. Using its new lab, Underwood said they’re getting results back in three to five days.

“In today’s world, it seems like so many cases are built — the success of prosecution relies upon physical evidence and the lab results. So, the delays, essentially, can compromise cases,” Underwood added.


Eventually, he said Union County plans to open the lab to evidence from other local law enforcement and expand its areas of accreditation. Currently, other municipalities can send latent prints to the sheriff’s office’s lab for review, instead of being sent to Raleigh or other crime labs. 

“We want to make sure we’re building it correctly, and our results are quality, and that the courts support the work that we’re doing. The community, hopefully, will be supportive of what we’re doing. So, our goal is to, at some point, become a full-service agency,” Underwood detailed.

In future months, the lab plans to add accreditation for blood-drug analysis, seized drug analysis and eventually post-mortem blood toxicology testing. After that, Underwood said the lab will work on earning other accreditation to process DNA evidence like the type found in rape kits. 

“It’s exciting to be able to offer this service,” Underwood said. “It’s exciting to know we have this wonderful new facility.”