Berrien County Prosecuting Attorney Arthur J. Cotter has announced that the Berrien County Forensic Laboratory at Andrews University has reopened after an employee’s relative was found to have stolen marijuana from the lab.

The lab analyzes drug samples for law enforcement agencies throughout the county.
Berrien County has contract with Andrews University to operate the lab since the 1970s.

The lab was closed in September 2009 when it was discovered that a relative of a lab employee was allowed access to the lab and stole a small amount of marijuana from a closed drug case set for destruction. A subsequent audit by the Michigan State Police accounted for all other evidence in the lab, and the perpetrator of the theft passed a polygraph administered by the State Police as to the limited nature of the theft.

Structural, procedural and personnel changes have been made at the lab, including the hiring of John Rorabeck as the new chief analyst of the lab.