April 26, 2024
On Thursday, April 25, 2024, the Arkansas Department of Public Safety (DPS) announced that it has successfully purchased land in North Little Rock to construct a new state-of-the-art Arkansas State Crime Laboratory (ASCL).
DPS has been actively working for months to identify a suitable property to build a new crime lab, and this purchase is a historic step toward reaching this goal. ASCL purchased the near 19-acre property between 5301 Northshore Drive and 5300 Northshore Cove for $4.095 million. In January 2024, the Arkansas Legislative Council approved ASCL’s request to fund the land purchase.
“Once completed, the new State Crime Lab will be equipped with the latest technology and facilities. This will allow the lab to continue conducting scientific analyses and investigations to help solve crimes across the state,” said Department of Public Safety Secretary Col. Mike Hagar. “The enhanced capabilities of the lab will help law enforcement agencies expedite the process of solving criminal cases.”
DPS and ASCL staff will work with architects, engineers, and contractors to finalize the design for a new 180,000-square-foot building on the newly purchased property. In 2023, The Arkansas General Assembly set aside $200 million to construct the new Crime Lab.
“The current Arkansas State Crime Laboratory has allowed our team to deliver meaningful forensic science services to our Arkansas stakeholders for more than forty years, since its establishment in 1981. Today, our team has outgrown our current building capacity. We are incredibly grateful to receive the support to build a new Arkansas State Crime Laboratory that will best position our team to continue to provide the forensic science services Arkansans entrust us to deliver, maintain and develop new partnerships with our stakeholders to best serve our state, and recruit and retain the very best forensic science team,” stated Arkansas State Crime Lab Director Dr. Theodore (Ted) Brown. “Our new facility will not only enhance our current services but will allow us growth for decades.”
