June 30, 2025
Line item 8100-1004 funds the operation and related costs of the State Police crime laboratory at $29,852,624 for FY2026. Within that item, a proviso requires that not less than $250,000 be expended for costs associated with forensic genetic genealogy DNA, to be used to help solve violent crimes, identify unidentified human remains, process sexual assault evidence kits and support cold case investigations. Any third-party testing laboratory must be vetted and approved by the Massachusetts State Police crime lab. The item carries a second directive requiring that funds be spent on phase II of the processing of sexual assault evidence kits, with a report to the House and Senate committees on ways and means due by March 3, 2026 covering the status of phase II, an anticipated timeline for its completion, and the year-to-date cost of processing kits under it. The Department of State Police must also submit quarterly reports on the caseload of each laboratory, turnaround time and backlogs by case type, and the accreditation status of each laboratory. The forensic genetic genealogy language appears in the FY2026 act alone. It is absent from the same line item in the FY2025 General Appropriations Act (Ch. 140 of the Acts of 2024) and from the FY2027 act (Ch. 137 of the Acts of 2026), which funds the item at $30,718,350 and retains the sexual assault kit directives.