Genetic ‘Fingerprint’ Lab Would Pay for Its Upkeep, Report Says : Crime: Supervisors may be swayed by a study despite the $200,000 price tag because DNA analysis holds promise for the sure identification of criminals.

Orange County administrators said Thursday that a genetic testing laboratory could be self-sufficient in the future through cost savings and fees for services but that $200,000 in private and county money would be needed to start the controversial program.

The report by the county administrators followed an emotional meeting 10 days ago, when the only woman member of the Board of Supervisors, Harriett M. Wieder, questioned her male colleagues’ concern for rape victims because of their refusal to pay for the genetic “fingerprinting” lab immediately.

Her request for $120,000 to help the Sheriff-Coroner’s Department set up a lab to check DNA evidence was spurred by the recent rape of a 12-year-old girl in Huntington Beach. A suspect held in the case is a man who five months earlier had been acquitted of a rape charge after prosecutors were late in obtaining evidence from an outside lab based on deoxyribonucleic acid samples.

At the time, Board Chairman Thomas F. Riley, echoing the sentiments of his male board colleagues, said they favor establishing a DNA lab but are reluctant to approve new programs before a January budget review.

DNA, present in everything from hair and skin samples to body fluids, contains each person’s unique genetic code and thus could help prosecutors tie evidence left behind at a crime with a suspect.

County officials said Thursday’s report may clear the way for supervisors to approve the DNA lab Tuesday.

In the report, officials recommended that the lab be set up in the sheriff-coroner’s facility in the 1000 block of West Santa Ana Boulevard. Equipment and remodeling costs would not exceed $120,000, the report said.

Another $80,000, which was raised by the Sheriff’s Advisory Council from private sources for such a lab, would be used to offset the cost of two senior criminalist positions for the DNA program.

The report was upbeat about possible cost savings from such a lab. It said conclusive evidence from DNA tests will result in an increased number of guilty pleas and thus fewer court days.

“A typical hearing lasts a total of 10 days for a cost of $60,000,” the report said. “A guilty plea based on conclusive DNA testing may reduce the number of court days significantly, as well as reduce law enforcement officers’ court time costs.”

The lab would also cut down on expert-witness fees because the DNA testers would be county employees, rather than outside experts paid by the hour. The lab, according to the report, may well cut in half present analytical costs for tests.

According to the report, alternatives for starting the DNA lab without using the county’s “overcommitted general fund” include taking money from the Orange County Neighborhood Development and Preservation Program Regional Projects.

But once such a lab is in operation, the report said, county staff members are “confident that through cost recovery, fees and (gaining state designation as a regional genetic testing lab), the county’s DNA testing program will be self-sufficient in future years.”