The man hired to help fix the city’s troubled DNA lab has been receiving salary since December to not come to work and is now being paid to leave, the KVUE Defenders and Austin American-Statesman have learned.
APD hired Scott Milne from Arizona in November to work as the chief forensic officer at the now-closed lab. After one month, the department told him that they neither needed nor wanted him anymore.
In addition to his salary of $37,000, the city is set to pay Milne a $57,500 settlement stating he waives the right to sue the city over any potential legal claim he may have.
Milne’s salary when he was hired was $111,000, and police looked into his application packet after he had already started. The Defenders and Statesman have learned police found several failing grades in college classes relating to forensic science. Around the same time, officials decided they were no longer going to try to reopen the lab.
APD’s DNA lab was initially closed in June after a state audit found numerous issues. Three other employees who worked at the lab are performing administrative duties within APD, and officials are still trying to figure out their future.