AIKEN WILL GET NEW DRUG LAB

Secondary State Analysis Facility Will Help Police Reduce Backlog At
SLED, In Court, Authorities Say

Aiken County was awarded a $170,285 state grant last month to
establish a Second Judicial Circuit Drug Analysis Laboratory at the
sheriff's office in Aiken.

The regional lab will provide timely drug analysis reports to the
Solicitor's Office, allowing for swift prosecution of drug cases and a
reduced number of inmates waiting for trial, Aiken County Sheriff
Howard Sellers said.

''For us, the real burden is to unplug the system,'' the sheriff said.
''We want to give the solicitor the evidence to prosecute in a timely
fashion so we don't have people sitting in jail for a year, costing
taxpayers money and those presumed innocent time from their lives.''

The drug analysis lab could be open by fall if the Aiken County
Council approves its tight budget by June 30 with $56,761 included to
match the state grant for the lab.

After those initial start-up costs, the county also would be obligated
to pay $16,000 the second and third year of the grant.

Second Circuit Solicitor Barbara R. Morgan said the drug analysis lab
will help speed up more than 1,200 pending drug cases - nearly half
the Solicitor's Office's caseload.

''One of our biggest impediments to moving cases has been the lag time
in getting drug tests,'' the solicitor said. ''Six months ago, it was
a year-and-a-half to two years before we got drug results. There's no
way the system works efficiently and effectively under those
circumstances.''

Ms. Morgan said although some inroads have been made, there still is a
seven-to eight-month wait for drug test results from SLED.

''That's not good enough,'' she said. ''We're trying to figure out how
to do it better because we've got to.''

Because of the length of time it takes to get a defendant from arrest
to court, judges are reluctant to deny or set significant bonds on
defendants, Sheriff Sellers said.

The result is that many suspects make bond easily and are back on the
streets for a long period of time before their cases are called to
court, he said.

''I think it's a problem for the community. Drug dealers know there's
a lag time in the lab, so they don't have to worry about a plea,''
Sheriff Sellers said. ''Where's the consistency? Where's the swift and
sure justice? Where's the protection? It makes for an awkward
situation.''

Between 1996 and 1999, the Aiken County Sheriff's Office had an
increase from 225 to 464 cases involving cocaine and crack-cocaine - a
more than 200 percent increase, officials said.

Aiken County law enforcement agencies sent 736 drug cases to the SLED
laboratory in 1999; the sheriff's office alone submitted 336.

''We're not exactly winning the war on drugs,'' Sheriff Sellers
said.

A regional drug analysis lab is the only way to handle the heavy
caseload at a faster pace, Ms. Morgan said.

''We think it will help us,'' she said. ''We've identified that it
will make a difference for all parties in the system - and we're
talking about defendants, too. The whole system needs it.''

Ms. Morgan said SLED officials support a regional lab because of the
large backlog of drug evidence. SLED spokesman Hugh Munn agreed that
the lab will help take some of the burden off the agency.

''We have plenty to do,'' he said.

Lab's Benefits

The Second Judicial Circuit Drug Analysis Laboratory is expected
to:

Reduce the time it takes for the solicitor to receive a drug analysis
report from eight months to one month

Eliminate the use of SLED's laboratory for drug analysis by 90 percent
for Aiken County and the region - Edgefield, Saluda and Barnwell counties

Reduce the amount of travel time for the chemist to court from one
hour or more to 40 minutes or less

Reduce the number of people in the chain of custody for drug evidence
submitted to the laboratory for analysis.