LEWISTON, ME – Congressman Mike Michaud announced that the U.S. Department of Justice has released $99,483 in funding to the Maine State Police from the Forensic DNA Backlog Reduction Program. The objective of the program is to assist states and units of local government in reducing forensic DNA sample turnaround time, increasing throughput of public DNA laboratories, and reducing DNA forensic casework backlogs.

“While this grant is good news and a step in the right direction, more resources are needed to ensure the backlog of DNA tests are processed,” said Michaud. “A lack of funding to process DNA evidence has been a constant problem for police departments across the nation.”

Michaud is a strong supporter of making sure that states have the resources they need for DNA processing. In June, the House passed H.R. 2847, the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2010. The bill contained an amendment offered by Michaud that would fully fund the Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Grant Program, which provides funding to states and localities to collect and test DNA evidence.

Maine has an estimated 4,000 convicted offender samples waiting to be analyzed along with over 200 pending criminal cases. On average, Maine also has an additional 180 to 200 samples from convicted offenders that come in each month and need analysis. The amendment that Michaud passed restored the fully authorized amount of $151 million for the Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Grant Program.

“This issue often goes unnoticed, but it has grave consequences,” said Michaud. “Each untested DNA sample represents a missed chance to keep violent offenders off our streets. Adequate funding will increase the resources available to Maine and other states to process DNA evidence.”