JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A new crime lab in the state’s capital city will serve multiple departments, and people around Missouri. Governor Mike Parson along with the directors of the department of agriculture, conservation, natural resources, the health department, and the Missouri State Highway Patrol celebrated the approval of the money for the facility.

The 260,000-square-foot state lab will cost $183 million with more than half of that money coming from the state’s American Rescue Plan funds.

“This transformative investment in Missouri’s laboratory infrastructure is a one-health approach to disease, healthy livestock, safe food, environmental testing, and public safety. That will create a unique campus of laboratory science, innovation, and collaboration functioning together in state-of-the-art facilities,” said Department of Health and Senior Services Deputy Director Laura Naught.

The job will be out for bid later and construction starting in 2024, with the plan of it being completed by 2026