JEFFERSON COUNTY, Mo. — The groundbreaking for a new Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office crime lab took place Monday, which will help the department prioritize its own cases.

The $11 million project is being funded by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars and the department’s reserves, according to Sheriff Dave Marshak. The new crime lab will be adjacent to the existing bulk evidence storage building.

“Our leadership had recognized this as an important project for our community and for public safety,” Marshak said. “From the county executive to the county council, (they) have illustrated their commitment with the signing of these documents to get this project done.”

Jefferson County is competing with more than 600 law enforcement agencies across the state to have evidence tested by the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s crime lab, which has been overwhelmed with cases, Marshak said.

“They are simply trying to prioritize cases from across the state,” he said. “Because they are overwhelmed, a number of pieces of evidence were simply not getting tested.”

The new crime lab will provide the sheriff’s office the “ability to prioritize our own cases and test items that other labs simply wouldn’t test,” according to Marshak.

The new crime lab’s testing capabilities will include toxicology and blood alcohol, controlled substances, DNA, latent print and more. In addition to processing forensics, Marshak said the lab will include a computer crime section.

“We’re seeing an increase in the amount of data that is being recovered from crime scenes, whether that be from computers, cellphones, surveillance systems, and that’s definitely an area that we need to expand upon,” Marshak said.

Crime scene investigators already have collected nearly 50 pieces of evidence, mostly related to property crimes, that will be tested once the new lab is complete.

Marshak said investigators believe the evidence will yield a suspect profile for identification.

The new crime will not only benefit Jefferson County, but also the St. Louis area as there are only three other crime labs in the region.

“I’m excited to see it come to fruition and I’m excited for the people in our community that know that we’re doing everything we can to keep our citizens safe,” Marshak said.

The project is expected to take nine to 12 months.