TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Azya Thornton on Jun 6, 2025

Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris and Shelby County District Attorney General Steve Mulroy are exploring plans for a limited local crime lab that could be housed within the West Tennessee Regional Forensic Center. Harris and Mulroy presented the proposal on Wednesday to the Shelby County Commission’s Budget Subcommittee at an estimated annual cost of $5.5 million. According to the Daily Memphian, the lab would focus on ballistics, digital device analysis and rapid DNA testing. Harris said the county is well-positioned to expand forensic capacity, while Mulroy emphasized that the lab would complement and not compete with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's existing services. According to the paper, the lab could take more than a year to fully implement, with initial steps focused on hiring a planning team and determining interagency coordination.