MINNEAPOLIS - Hennepin County Commissioners will not be moving forward with a plan to move the management of the Hennepin County Crime Lab from the Sheriff's Office to the County Administration.
In a unanimous vote, the board moved to return the budget amendment to its authors, county commissioners Marion Greene and Linda Higgins. Both proposed the amendment in which, based on previous studies, the Hennepin County crime lab would report to County Administration, rather than the Sheriff's Office.
Proponents said the move would have opened the possibility of consolidating some services with the Minneapolis Crime Lab, in turn, saving some Hennepin County taxpayers money by paying for one crime lab, not two.
Opponents, including Hennepin County Sheriff Richard Stanek, were against the proposal arguing the move would increase response times to crime scenes, shift evidence processing priorities and result in a longer turnaround time for evidence processing.
Greene indicated she plans to bring forward an open and transparent process to look at crime lab governance next year.
In other business, the board voted to approve the county’s 2018 budget of $2.4 billion.