Committee backs funding to build combined BCI–Highway Patrol facility in Minot, but cost gap remains

A legislative committee on Monday gave House Bill 1487 a do-pass recommendation to appropriate funds for constructing a new facility in Minot to house the Bureau of Criminal Investigation’s Minot office and the Highway Patrol.

The bill as drafted would provide $4,900,000 to build an estimated 14,000-square-foot facility on Department of Transportation land; the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) later advised using $400 per square foot as a safer estimate, which would raise the probable cost to $5,600,000, witnesses said.

The appropriation is intended to fund a new building rather than renovation, Pat Leonard, a supervisor and special agent with the Bureau of Criminal Investigation’s Minot office, told the committee. Leonard said the agencies discussed space needs and estimated roughly 14,000…