State revives Springfield crime lab

The lease agreement is through the Missouri Office of Administration and is the final piece of financing for the $5.9 million lab, according to Phil Broyles, assistant director of public works operations for Springfield. The lab will be at the former Lester E. Cox Building at 440 E. Tampa St.

Plans had been sidelined after the state’s legislative session ended May 11 without securing funds for the lab.

The state will pay about $400,000 toward the building’s purchase this year, and then, under the agreement, pay the remaining $1.6 million on the building.

Springfield City Council ratified the agreement a day after Blunt was in Springfield to announce the state’s offer. The announcement came as a surprise to city officials, Broyles said.

Blunt also announced that the state would phase in funding over three fiscal years to employ 21 staff members at the crime lab.

Other funding for the crime lab has come from $2.7 million in bonds backed by 14 local banks and a $1.4 million federal grant.

“Between the city, county, state and federal government, we’re going to be able to make the crime lab a reality,” Broyles said. “It was a real strong partnership between all the forms of government.”

Construction is slated to begin in July and take about 15 months, with completion set for October 2008.

The lab would serve the southwest Missouri region and ease the backlog of cases at the crime lab in Jefferson City.

The Missouri Highway Patrol crime lab system receives more than 23,000 cases a year, and the Springfield lab will increase forensic analysis capacity by 30 percent, according to a news release from Blunt’s office.

Crime lab commission

Also last week, Blunt announced that he would appoint a commission to assess the effectiveness of state-funded crime labs.

A six-member commission will review the “ability of state-funded forensic laboratories to provide quality services in a timely manner to law enforcement,” according to a news release from Blunt’s office.

The commission will comprise one senior manager from an accredited Missouri crime lab who has experience as a forensic scientist, one sworn administrator from a law enforcement agency, one prosecuting attorney, one defense attorney, one crime victim’s advocate and one Missouri Department of Public Safety representative.

The commission will issue a report to the public safety department that outlines any findings of negligence or misconduct at a lab and recommendations regarding procedural changes. Any negligence or misconduct found will be grounds for revocation or suspension of grant funds, according to the release.