Blackhawk County approves participation in Waterloo evidence intake facility despite questions on invoices and long-term costs

Blackhawk County supervisors voted July 22 to approve an updated 28E-style agreement and a separate operating-expense schedule to help fund an evidence intake facility to be built and owned by the City of Waterloo. The county will pay up to $750,000 toward construction and will make stepped annual payments to offset operating costs over 50 years.

The vote follows weeks of negotiation between county staff, the sheriff's office and Waterloo officials and comes after Sheriff Mark Ward provided detailed usage and cost figures. “We've taken 304 cases there over the last 3 years,” Ward said, adding that packaging and trips to an out-of-county lab amount to roughly “52, roughly once a week,” which he estimated costs the sheriff's office about $35,000 a year in travel and staff time.

The approved construction contribution remains capped at $750,000; the operating schedule approved separately sets county payments at $10,000 per year for years one through ten, $12,000 for years 11–20, $14,000 for years 21–30, $16,000 for years 31–40 and $18,000 for years 41–50. County speakers and the sheriffs office said the city already pays recurring costs — equipment, software subscriptions and utilities — and that those costs are likely to rise over time.

Why it matters: the county is replacing repeated trips to external labs with a local intake facility intended to process evidence and provide forensic services to regional law enforcement. Proponents said local access will save staff time and reduce recurring travel costs; critics and some supervisors pressed for clearer invoice detail and documentation to track how the countys share is calculated.

Sheriff Ward and Waterloo Police Chief Rob Duncan described the lab's current services and recurring software/equipment costs. Chief Duncan said the city recently approved a specialized tool to extract data from iOS devices at a cost in the neighborhood of $34,000 and that subscriptions and licenses for cell‑phone and computer forensics contribute substantially to annual expenses. He also noted that some laboratory work (for example certain DNA and some controlled-substance analyses) still requires sending evidence to state or regional labs.

During discussion supervisors asked for vendor invoices and clearer documentation so county payments could be tied to construction invoices rather than a single lump sum. County staff said the latest draft requires the city to provide construction invoices and that the countys payments will be made against those invoices until the $750,000 cap is reached. Several supervisors asked for explicit language that vendor invoices be shared; staff said the county could ask the city to add the word “vendor” to clarify the requirement.

Board members also flagged a revision in the citys draft that removed an explicit requirement for the city to disclose annual operating-expense documentation. County staff said that provision was no longer present in the citys version and that had been a point of negotiation. Supervisors who voted in favor said ongoing involvement of county staff and the sheriff's office throughout design and construction would provide oversight; one supervisor voted no and another abstained, citing the need for more time and clearer documentation.

What happens next: county staff and the sheriffs office will continue coordinating with Waterloo on project planning and invoices as the city moves toward bidding and construction. Supervisors and staff discussed adding language specifying vendor invoices and agreed to continue reviewing contract language to ensure the county receives the documentation it seeks.

Ending: The project moves forward with county approval but with outstanding requests from supervisors for clearer invoice documentation and assurances about how annual operating costs will be disclosed and calculated.