Union County crime lab to help speed up criminal cases

UNION COUNTY, N.C. — The Union County Sheriff’s Office celebrated the official accreditation of its crime lab, which will help speed up its efforts to fight crime.

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This means faster results for fingerprints, autopsies, and blood analysis, including blood alcohol tests.

Leaders said it will help the county as the state struggles with a backlog in cases.

Photos of the crime lab are below:

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“We were taking record numbers of impaired drivers off the streets,” said Sheriff Tony Underwood. “Many of those cases were awaiting trial because we couldn’t get the lab results necessary to take those cases to court.”

Officials said the delays were causing defendants to be arrested multiple times before going to court on the first case.

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