Blunt Rescues Springfield Crime Lab

The worst-kept secret in Springfield today was revealed to the public as Gov. Matt Blunt announced a new funding plan to build a crime lab in the Queen City.

The lab, which has been in the plans for several years, will be in a former warehouse/distribution center that the City of Springfield owns. Law enforcement officials say the expanded lab is needed to relieve the workload at the patrol's crime lab in Jefferson City, which can take up to a year to process criminal evidence sent to it by investigators.

You can watch KY3's Marie Saavedra's report HERE.

The Missouri Legislature failed to pass a bill that would have provided the final piece of needed funding for the lab. City and Greene County leaders have been piecing together the funds, and thought the Legislature's failure would mean construction on the lab couldn't begin this year.

At a news conference on Monday morning, Blunt said state funding for the crime lab will be phased in over three fiscal years and will include 21 new staff members. Missouri will pay $400,000 in the next fiscal year, which starts July 1.

He'll also ask the Legislature to appropriate $1.2 million for the fiscal year that starts July 1, 2008. If that doesn't happen, the governor says the funding will be spread over more years.

The Office of Administration will enter into a lease-purchase agreement with the City of Springfield for the building at 440 E. Tampa St. The crime lab will replace a smaller one in Springfield that only processes some evidence in drug crimes.

The Highway Patrol says its crime lab system receives evidence from more than 23,000 criminal cases a year. The expanded lab in Springfield will increase the system's forensic analysis capacity by 30 percent. In addition, it says, the merger of crime labs in Joplin and Cape Girardeau with the Highway Patrol crime lab system will further increase capacity and efficiency.

City officials also plan to use part of the building on Tampa Street for training facilities for police and firefighters. The Springfield City Council will consider ratifying the lease-purchase agreement with the state at the council's lunch meeting on Tuesday.