Test lab to hinge on costs

NW Arkansans requst crime unit

Gov. Asa Hutchinson wants a branch of the state Crime Laboratory in Northwest Arkansas, but analysts have yet to determine if the savings would be worth the cost, he said in a recent interview.

"I've asked if one could be added to the new [Arkansas] State Police troop headquarters being planned," Hutchinson said last month. "It all depends on the numbers, though."

Local law enforcement and court officials said such a move would be a major cost savings for their departments, even if the lab was limited to the testing of suspected illegal drugs. More extensive laboratory work such as DNA testing and medical examiner's facilities would raise the expense of the project, they said.

"It would be especially important to smaller police departments here," said Nathan Smith, prosecuting attorney for Benton County. "It's a major expense for the sheriff's office or one of the bigger departments to send someone to the Crime Lab in Little Rock with drugs to be tested, but for a smaller department to send an officer away for a day really affects how they operate."

A new lab would also be a boon to departments outside Northwest Arkansas, said Washington County Prosecuting Attorney Matt Durrett.

"We have three of the biggest counties with three of the busiest courts," he said.

Washington County Sheriff Tim Helder called the proposal a great idea. According to his records, the sheriff's office spends at least 100 man-hours a year transporting evidence to and from the Crime Lab. That figure does not include special trips on major cases, a spokesman for his office said.

"We don't have the crime rate Little Rock has, but we've become the second-biggest population center in the state," Helder said. "We have to send a lot of evidence back and forth."

Because the materials, including drugs, are evidence in criminal proceedings, they have to be kept secure, Helder said. That requires transportation by a law enforcement officer.

"If it's a big case, we often have to send an investigator to stand there while it's tested," he said.

State Crime Laboratory Director Kermit Channell said in a telephone interview that his office is putting together estimates on how much of a benefit, if any, such a satellite lab would be to the state.

"The savings to us would be that we wouldn't have to send an analyst out of the lab the whole day to testify in a trial up there," Channell said. "The time spent going back and forth is time that's not spent in the lab doing more tests."

Building a new lab is a major expense. The Crime Lab's only satellite location opened in April 2004 in Hope. The $2 million it cost to build the lab was included in the budget of a community college expansion, according to state records. Another $200,000 was spent on equipment for the lab, state records show.

"It is a laboratory, and it would require its own special heating and cooling," Channell said. "There's instrumentation that is very sensitive to temperature and is also very expensive. This is not something you can put in an office building. For one thing, you have to have fume hoods so you can suddenly ventilate the building if you need to. At the same time, it has to be secure. Unfortunately, it's an expensive endeavor to set up an internationally accredited lab.

"The going rate for building a lab to the required specifications is $350 a square foot," Channell said.

How much space the lab would need depends on how much material it would test in a typical year. That is one of the figures being determined, he said. Channell said he considered existing space such as the Washington County coroner's building, but concluded new construction would be needed.

"We're still talking to the state police, but ultimately this decision will be made by the governor, and rightly so," Channell said. "We're still early in the process."

Hutchinson and Channell said the best place would be at the new headquarters for Arkansas State Police Troop L. Based in Springdale, a site for a new headquarters was purchased in Lowell with plans to begin construction sometime this year. Bill Sadler, state police spokesman, said his agency is open to the lab idea.

Alternatives to a new lab have been explored, said Smith and Durrett. Both said they have experts from the Little Rock lab testify by video link whenever possible. Both sides in a criminal trial have to agree to allow that, they said, but such video testimony does nothing to relieve local law enforcement agencies from having to take evidence to Little Rock in a secure fashion and bring it back when needed.

"If I were king, I'd open a new lab up here and hire more staff for every location, but I will completely understand if they can't afford it," Smith said.

Metro on 01/25/2016

Upcoming Events