Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Forensic Facility Cip topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Sedgwick County officials present $19.1M plan to expand Regional Forensic Science Center
Summary
County staff and the Regional Forensic Science Center director outlined a CIP proposal to add a new 24,600-square-foot building and remodel roughly 16,000 square feet of the existing facility, estimating a $19.1 million total project cost plus allowances and equipment.
The Sedgwick County staff and the Regional Forensic Science Center (RFSC) director presented a capital improvement project that would add a modern laboratory building adjacent to the existing RFSC and remodel part of the current facility.
Dr. Shelly Stedman, director of the Regional Forensic Science Center, told the county that the county’s lab does a disproportionate share of the state’s violent-crime forensic work, but operates in relatively small and aging space. “We’re doing a whole lot of work in very little space,” Stedman said, describing current constraints in toxicology, DNA and drug-identification workflows.
Andrew Dilts, director of facilities, said the county has an approved CIP line with roughly $7 million currently in the fund and has developed an updated budget that estimates $1.2 million for architecture and engineering in 2026 and about $19.1 million for construction in 2027. Dilts said the new building would be roughly 24,600 square feet and that remodeling would cover about 16,000 square feet of the existing approximately 31,800-square-foot RFSC building. The remodel allowance was estimated at roughly $4 million; the new construction portion was roughly $11 million with additional incidentals, contingency, equipment and FF&E included in the total project estimate.
County staff explained the project is intended to modernize DNA workflow, accommodate robotics and improved instrumentation, and address ventilation and electrical capacity limits in the existing building. Dilts said the existing electrical capacity is “maxed out” and the plan includes backup generators and UPS systems for critical systems. Stedman described operational limits: staff growth (43 current FTEs, projected 50–60 over 20 years), trouble accommodating interns, and backlogs in toxicology and drug-ID that she said could worsen without more space and improved lab environmental controls.
Commissioners asked about cost drivers and alternatives. Commissioners pressed for a clearer breakdown of new-build shell costs versus specialized equipment and ventilation, and asked for the architect’s documentation that underlies the space program. Dilts said architect estimates informed the current numbers and that staff will supply a shell-versus-equipment breakout and the underlying space-by-discipline documentation. Commissioners also discussed location: staff proposed building in county-owned parking north of the East Ninth (health department) property to place the new structure adjacent to the existing lab and health department; staff said land is owned by the county and parking and outbuildings on the site would be addressed as the project proceeds.
County leadership said the CIP request is structured as a ceiling estimate to be included in the 2026 CIP and that bond funding would be issued after project completion; county staff said they plan to issue bonds in 2028 after costs are final. The county manager indicated the plan would not add to the county’s financial forecast because existing authorized debt capacity would be reallocated to this project.
No formal vote was taken at the staff meeting. Commissioners asked for more documentation on how the program-derived square footage and room sizes were calculated, and for a cost breakout that separates shell, systems and specialized laboratory equipment before the project proceeds in the CIP schedule.
