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Criminal Justice Grants

State Crime Lab Fines and Forfeitures
Section 943.32, Florida Statutes, establishes a state-wide criminal analysis laboratory composes of the FDLE Regional Crime Labs and five locally-funded laboratories in Broward, Indian River, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, and Pinellas counties. These locally-funded laboratories are eligible for state matching funds as designated in Section 943.35, Florida Statutes.
 
Funding Process

Mandatory fines imposed on cases for driving (or boating) under the influence and discretionary fines imposed by the court when a local crime laboratory provides services that are used to prosecute violations of Chapters 775-896, Florida Statutes are used to fund this state financial assistance program. Funds received for this program are passed through to the five locally-funded crime laboratories (Broward, Indian River, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, and Pinellas) based on a formula the utilizes most recent year population statistics. 

The fines are collected by Florida's Clerks of Court and are forwarded to FDLE via the Department of Revenue on a quarterly basis. Upon receipt of the funds, the Criminal Justice Grants (CJG) grant manager prepares each lab's distribution amount by plugging in the total received for the quarter into a formula spreadsheet. These funds are processed as a quarterly cash advance and sent to the local crime laboratories for use beginning in October each year. The crime laboratory is required to reconcile all revenue received and operating expenses by October 15 each year. Additional details regarding the reconciliation process are provided below.
 

Annual Workload Data Reporting

As with any cash advance, the expenditure of those funds must be reconciled. The reconciliation process for this program is outline in Section 943.36, Florida Statutes and requires the local crime laboratory to submit the following information by October 15 each year:

  • Actual operating costs for the immediate prior fiscal year
  • Operating budget approved by the county commission for the fiscal year in progress
  • Workload data, including volume of casework received and completed by type and sources by law enforcement agency
In order to facilitate a consistent way of receiving and reviewing information, CJG requires the local crime laboratory submit a completed Attachment A - FCLC-1 workbook to the assigned grant manager PRIOR to receiving their first quarter distribution for the new year. 

Labs may only retain funds up to an amount equal to 75% of their operating costs, excluding any federally-funded expenditures, each fiscal year. Funds distributed under this program will be compared to the submitted Attachment A - FLCL - 1. Any funds in excess of the 75% threshold, as well as any balance of unobligated funds or funds used for unallowable expenses, must be refunded to FDLE within 30 days of notification.
 
Allowable and Restricted Expenses

State funds provided under this program may be used for salaries, benefits, expenses, equipment/operating capital outlay, health/safety supplies, and training (and related travel) for members of the crime laboratories in the following forensic disciplines: 

  • Biology/DNA
  • Chemistry
  • Crime Scene
  • Digital Evidence
  • Firearms
  • Latent Prints
  • Toxicology 
  • Trace Evidence

State funds may not be used to support the following, as they are not considered to be "laboratory operations" per statute: 

  • Identification Photography
  • Identification of Fingerprints (other than latent)
  • Polygraph Services
  • Electronic Surveillance
  • Medical Examiners


Florida Department of Law Enforcement Priorities

FDLE is composed of five areas: Executive Direction and Business Support, Criminal Investigations and Forensic Science, Criminal Justice Information, Criminal Justice Professionalism and Florida Capitol Police. FDLE’s duties, responsibilities and procedures are mandated through Chapter 943, FS, and Chapter 11, FAC. To learn more about these areas, read our Statement of Agency Organization and Operation or visit our Open Government page.