Pevely Mo. – Hastings + Chivetta Architects, Inc. is performing design work for a 10,000-square-foot, $4 million crime lab for Jefferson County, Mo.

The proposed construction work includes erection of a new Jefferson County Crime Laboratory building and all site civil improvements, building architectural and laboratory casework elements and all building structural components, foundations, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection and data/security elements.

A contractor has not yet been selected.

According to Sheriff Dave Marshak, the local lab is needed because the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s lab in Jefferson City, which processes evidence from county and city law enforcement agencies around the state, can sometimes take up to a year to process evidence.

St. Charles County, St. Louis County and St. Louis operate similar crime labs.

The new lab will be built next to an existing evidence storage facility. Areas of the facility will include a space for processing DNA evidence, vehicles, firearms and drug testing. A separate area is being designed that will be dedicated to computer crime investigations.

Jefferson County officials have said they expect to pay for at least some of the cost to build the lab – and the estimated $1 million to $1.5 million to equip it – through the county’s allotment of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 stimulus plan.