City of Tulsa, OSU to Build Forensics Facility

Police Chief Ron Palmer and Dr. John Fernandes, President of the Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, broke ground Friday, Feb. 20, for a shared forensics facility. The five-story building will be constructed on the OSU campus at 17th Street and Southwest Boulevard. City Councilors Jack Henderson, Rick Westcott, Dennis Troyer and Bill Christiansen also participated in the groundbreaking.

Tulsa Police Department will occupy the lower two floors of the forensic facility and OSU Center for Health Sciences will use the upper three floors. The Tulsa Police property and evidence room will be on the first floor, and the forensics lab will be on the second floor.

Tulsa Police Department forensic testing includes fingerprint analysis, handwriting analysis, DNA testing, firearms examinations, controlled substance analysis, trace evidence and toxicology. Police forensic scientists perform their duties knowing that they will likely testify in court regarding their findings.

The Police forensics lab will be the first part of the building completed and ready for use in March 2010. Completion of the rest of the building is scheduled for October 2010. Cost for the project is $2.75 million for design, and $38.37 million for construction: a total of $41.2 million. OSU provided $21.87 million, and the City of Tulsa provided $19.25 million from the 2001 and 2006 Third Penny Sales Tax and the 2005 General Obligation Bond Issue.