Public safety agencies seek new regional BCA labs and consolidated State Patrol headquarters; funding source sparks debate

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Officials from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety told the Senate Capital Investment Committee on Jan. 28 they need new regional laboratory capacity and improved State Patrol facilities to keep pace with growing digital evidence and testing demands, while a proposal to use trunk-highway funds for a new State Patrol headquarters drew objections.

Why it matters: DPS said evidence volume, drug testing, and digital forensics have risen sharply and require specialized laboratory space. Lawmakers must weigh those capital needs alongside competing demands for bonding and trunk-highway cash.

Commissioner Bob Jacobson, Superintendent Drew Evans of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and Colonel Christina Bojosevic of the Minnesota State Patrol presented the agency’s requests. Evans said the BCA is “simply out of space,” citing growth in digital evidence exam demand, increases in DNA analysis and controlled-substance testing, and a 75-person overcapacity at the St. Paul headquarters. The BCA described a shovel-ready project in Mankato with completed design and owned land; construction cost is estimated at about $68.6 million and the site would host lab space, a training hub and a regional crime-scene team.

Evans said a Bemidji expansion is also proposed to nearly double current space to 53,000 square feet; the department requested land acquisition and design funding of roughly $4.2 million for that project while construction cost estimates will be provided later in the design process.

Colonel Bojosevic outlined a proposed consolidated Minnesota State Patrol headquarters that would bring several leased metro offices under one modernized roof, improve evidence storage and training space and expand indoor vehicle and equipment storage. The patrol’s construction estimate presented to the committee was about $97 million; the administration proposes to fund the build from trunk-highway cash.

Several senators, including Sen. Grant Jasinski, criticized using trunk-highway funds for the State Patrol project. Jasinski called taking highway money for buildings “a theft” from roads and bridges and urged general-obligation bonding instead. Other members acknowledged the need for improved patrol facilities but said funding trade-offs — including contagion of trunk-highway bond guidelines — make the decision difficult.

Sen. Carla Pappas and others pressed on cost drivers. Evans attributed the increase in the Mankato project estimate — from about $48 million in a prior filing to $68.6 million — mainly to rising construction costs, additional specialized support space identified during predesign, and the need to immediately build out specialized lab workstations and equipment.

Committee members discussed alternatives including phasing projects and prioritizing the most critical elements first. Commissioner Jacobson said DPS is open to other funding approaches but emphasized the patrol’s current leased and overcrowded spaces and urged the committee to consider timely investment.

No formal votes were taken at the hearing. DPS staff said they will return with additional cost breakdowns and requested design and construction funding in upcoming bonding deliberations.