Arkansas purchases $4 million-plus 19-acre site in North Little Rock for new crime lab
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – State officials are saying improvements in processing quality and speed for the Arkansas crime lab are on the way after a land purchase in North Little Rock.
A spokesperson for the Arkansas Department of Public Safety said the agency purchased 19 acres in North Little Rock on Thursday to build a new state-of-the-art Arkansas State Crime Laboratory. The site is between 5301 and 5300 North Shore Drive and was purchased for $4.095 million, they said.
Officials said the purchase marked the end of a nine-month process to find an appropriate site, which began in January when the Arkansas Legislative Council authorized the purchase.
The site will house a 180,000-square-foot building, which officials said had its design finalized in 2023. A spokesperson said the legislature has set aside $200 million for its construction.
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DPS Secretary Col. Mike Hagar said the new lab will be state-of-the-art.
“Once completed, the new State Crime Lab will be equipped with the latest technology and facilities,” Hagar said. “This will allow the lab to continue conducting scientific analyses and investigations to help solve crimes across the state.”
Hagar added that the enhanced capabilities of the new lab will help speed up solving criminal cases.
State Crime Lab Director Dr. Theodore Brown said Arkansas had outgrown its current lab, built in 1981.
“Today, our team has outgrown our current building capacity,” Brown said. “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.”
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Officials said no completion date has been projected for the building project.
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