title
Affirm the District Attorney’s acceptance of a grant award from the Office of Traffic Safety Improving Alcohol and Toxicology Disciplines Grant Program in the amount of $75,000 to improve the testing capabilities in the Bureau of Forensic Services’ alcohol and toxicology disciplines, for the period of October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026; Authorize the District Attorney, with County Counsel concurrence, to execute any subsequent amendments associated with the grant award which are administrative or technical in nature; and Approve an Appropriation Transfer Request for $75,000 to recognize unanticipated State Grant Revenue offset by grant expenditures including fixed asset purchases (4/5 vote required)
body
Published Notice Required? Yes ___ No _X _
Public Hearing Required? Yes ___ No _X _
DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION:
The District Attorney’s Office recommends that the Board of Supervisors:
1) Affirm the District Attorney’s acceptance of a grant award from the Office of Traffic Safety Improving Alcohol and Toxicology Disciplines Grant Program in the amount of $75,000 to improve the testing capabilities in the Bureau of Forensic Services’ alcohol and toxicology disciplines, for the period of October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026;
2) Authorize the District Attorney, with County Counsel concurrence, to execute any subsequent amendments associated with the grant award which are administrative or technical in nature; and
3) Approve an Appropriation Transfer Request for $75,000 to recognize unanticipated State Grant Revenue offset by grant expenditures including fixed asset purchases. (4/5 vote required)
SUMMARY:
The Solano County Office of the District Attorney (DA), Bureau of Forensic Services (BFS), has received an Office of Traffic Safety Improving Alcohol and Toxicology Disciplines grant award for $75,000 to improve the testing capabilities in the laboratory’s alcohol and toxicology disciplines. This grant provides funding for cost associated with attending out of state conferences and training events, onsite breath calibration instrument training, a Column Switching Kit that automates and streamlines complex sample analysis, and consumable testing supplies to support recently acquired instrumentation.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Acceptance of the grant award has no General Fund cost. The $75,000 grant award will cover costs associated with out-of-state conferences, trainings, and seminars for forensic crime lab staff and on-site breath instrument calibration training for a total training and travel budget of $34,000; consumable testing lab supplies in the amount of $32,000; and a fixed asset equipment purchase for Column Switching Kit for toxicology instruments in the amount of $9,000. These are all one-time costs without any future expenses or financial obligations. The grant has no match requirements. The Appropriation Transfer Request (ATR) recognizes $75,000 in unanticipated revenue for FY2025/26 and is offset by these one-time grant expenditures.
DISCUSSION:
The California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) Improving Alcohol and Toxicology Disciplines grant program is designed to enhance the systems and procedures related to testing and analysis of alcohol and drugs in impaired driving cases. This grant program provides funding for crime laboratories to improve their efficiency in analyzing evidentiary samples for alcohol and controlled substances. The grant program also provides funds for specialized training for laboratory personnel to improve methods in drug detection and analysis of impaired driving.
This grant award allocates $19,000 for out of state trainings and related travel costs for Criminalists at the Forensic Crime Lab. These trainings include the American Academy of Forensic Sciences Annual Conference, the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors Annual Symposium, the Society of Forensic Toxicologists Annual Meeting, and the Chemical Testing Annual Conference.
The grant provides $15,000 for on-site breath instrument calibration training. The manufacturer of the lab’s current breath instruments will be onsite to provide training on calibration and maintenance of the instruments. This training will allow lab staff to maintain breath instruments for local law enforcement and reduce costs for service calls that result in instruments going offline. This training will also allow the Crime Lab to meet standards set forth by the American National Standards Institute National Accreditation Board (ANAB).
The grant provides $9,000 for a column switching kit for the crime lab’s Liquid Chromatograph/Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) instrument that will increase the efficiency and reduce maintenance on the instrument.
The grant allocates $32,000 for consumable testing supplies that will allow for the crime lab staff to calibrate and repair breath instruments onsite. This will reduce service costs and down time when instruments need service.
ALTERNATIVES:
The Board may choose to not accept this grant and thus not incur any additional costs for instrument maintenance in upcoming years. This is not recommended as it would result in the loss of $75,000 in grant revenue for the period of October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
There are no other agencies involved with this agenda item.
CAO RECOMMENDATION:
APPROVE DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION