Fort Worth, Tarrant County, and UNT Health Fort Worth are getting a $1.3 million shot in the arm in the form of federal grants aimed at speeding DNA testing and processing more forensic evidence. The money is intended to cut turnaround times for sexual-assault kits and other DNA work by outsourcing analysis and strengthening lab capacity, a boost that lab leaders and advocates say should mean faster answers for survivors and investigators.
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn announced the awards on April 29 as part of Department of Justice backlog funding tied to his work on the Debbie Smith Act. "Physical and scientific evidence, such as DNA testing, is one of the strongest tools prosecutors have to deliver justice for crime victims," Cornyn said in a press release via Sen. John Cornyn.
Who Got the Money and What It Will Pay For
The package, part of roughly $2.3 million in DOJ awards for North Texas, includes $469,187 for Tarrant County, $407,049 for the city of Fort Worth, and $486,017 for UNT Health Fort Worth, and will underwrite outsourced DNA testing for the Fort Worth Police and add processing capacity at UNT’s lab, as reported by Axios Dallas. Jody Klann, the crime laboratory director for the Tarrant County medical examiner, told Fort Worth Report that roughly half the lab’s current caseload involves sexual-assault testing.
Center for Human Identification Will Increase Processing
UNT Health’s Center for Human Identification is an ANAB-accredited forensic laboratory that manages local CODIS operations, the Texas Missing Persons DNA Database, and a range of genetic and anthropological testing, according to UNT Health. That regional capacity means the university lab can take on complex or degraded samples and support neighboring jurisdictions when local labs need to outsource.
Where This Fits in the Statewide Effort
Texas has been chipping away at a large backlog: End The Backlog’s state page shows about 2,327 untested sexual-assault kits in 2025, a marked decline from earlier years. The award is being made through the Department of Justice’s Capacity Enhancement for Backlog Reduction program, which channels formula and competitive grants to public crime labs to increase DNA testing capacity, per the Bureau of Justice Assistance.
Lab managers caution that the grants will not erase backlog problems overnight, but officials say the funds buy concrete testing capacity: faster analysis, more contractor options, and added throughput at a regional hub. Agencies are expected to publish implementation details as contracts and staffing are finalized.
