Pubdate: Tue, 06 Aug 2002 Source: Greenville News (SC) Copyright: 2002 The Greenville News Contact: http://greenvillenews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/877 Author: Anna Simon, Staff Writer REGIONAL DRUG LAB PUTS ANDERSON COUNTY IN STATE SPOTLIGHT ANDERSON -- A new regional forensics drug lab has already tested more than 500 samples of evidence and brought statewide attention to Anderson County. The county has won the 2002 J. Mitchell Graham Award from the state Association of Counties for the creation of the lab that serves law enforcement agencies in Anderson and Oconee counties. It's a second consecutive win for Anderson County, which swept the statewide association's two highest honors by also winning the 2002 Regional Cooperation Award for the 4-U Transit System, which provides free bus service between Anderson, Pendleton, Clemson and Central. The county-operated The Anderson/Oconee Regional Forensics Laboratory recently opened in the basement of the historic Old County Home building where Anderson County Detention Center offices are located. The lab was built by skilled inmates - plumbers, carpenters, brick masons and electricians - for $87,000, saving an estimated $106,000 had the county used traditional bid award methods, said Anderson County Administrator Joey Preston. A federal grant provided three-fourths of the funding. The lab saves law enforcement officers' time and taxpayers' money, speeds up the court process in drug cases and gets offenders off the streets sooner, Preston said. It shortens the wait for drug reports from busy State Law Enforcement Division drug labs in Columbia, which can take up to 180 days, and basically eliminates time and travel expenses in getting evidence to the lab. Every law enforcement agency in Anderson County is within 20 minutes of the new lab, and the average turnaround time is 10 days, Preston said. The savings could be significant because the number of drug cases Anderson County submitted to SLED labs for analysis has grown from 311 in 1997 to 759 in 2000, according to county reports. "This modern forensics laboratory, which was constructed on a shoestring budget in response to pressing law enforcement and public safety needs, allows the law enforcement and judicial agencies of Anderson and Oconee counties to operate more efficiently than ever," Preston said. "Citizens of Anderson County are receiving the benefits of this new laboratory through the faster prosecution of drug offenders ... Now there are fewer drug offenders awaiting trial out on bond in the community. Drug offenders are being sentenced faster, which makes them less of a burden on the county detention centers and the taxpayers to house them there." - --- MAP posted-by: Tom