A proposal that would require the city of Columbus to help fund a state crime lab was met with a cool response from Mayor Jim Wetherington on Wednesday.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation crime lab in Columbus is one of three the state will shut down at the end of the month. Wetherington, City Manager Isaiah Hugley, members of the state General Assembly delegation and GBI officials met in Atlanta.
“I just wasn’t pleased with the meeting,” Wetherington said.
The GBI proposed that the city ante up $66,000 to keep the lab open through June 30. After that it will take about $200,000 a year in city funds to keep the state lab open. It processes crime scene evidence and if it is closed, Columbus law enforcement officers will have to take evidence to Decatur or Macon for processing.
The Columbus lab, located in the eastern end of the county by the Department of Driver Services office, employs three lab technicians, three scientists and a director who is a forensic scientist. It serves 19 counties.
“They wanted us to pay $450,000 to keep the crime lab open, then they came down to $200,000 for administrative costs,” the mayor said. “The crime lab is the responsibility of the state to keep open. That’s what we pay taxes for.”
Dr. George Herrin, who is in charge of the state crime labs, attended the meeting in Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle’s office.
“It was a good discussion of the issue, but that is about as much as I can say right now,” Herrin said.
Jaillene Hunter, a spokesperson for Cagle, said the lieutenant governor’s officer asked for the meeting.
“Our office worked to bring the Columbus legislation delegation, local leaders and the GBI together to determine if a local and state partnership can potentially keep this lab open,” Hunter said.
Sen. Seth Harp, R-Columbus, said the ball is now in the city’s court.
“If Columbus doesn’t want to come forward with the money, we will have to close it,” Harp said. “There is not enough state money.” Wetherington said he will bring the proposal back to Columbus Council, which would have to authorize the use of such money.
“I don’t know what our position will be,” the mayor said. “I think they have already made their decision unless we pick up a significant amount of the costs. I am not personally in favor of that.”
The state of Georgia is facing an unprecedented budget shortfall that could reach more than $2 billion.
But Rep. Richard Smith, R-Columbus, said asking Columbus to pay to keep a lab open is unfair when it is not happening in other parts of the state. Smith uses the regional crime lab in Macon, which would remain open, as an example.
“Why should we have to put local money into it and Macon doesn’t?” Smith asked. “If the labs the GBI wants to close are closed, there will be no crime lab west of I-75.”
Columbus Fraternal Order of Police President Randy Robertson, who has been at the lead of the fight to save the lab, was in the meeting.
“The delegation asked the GBI to come up with a letter stating exactly what would be needed from the area and what it would be spent on,” Robertson said.
But he admitted time was running out, with the lab slated to close in three weeks.
“We don’t stop fighting until the last breath,” Robertson said. “Once it happens, it is out of the FOP’s hands and up to the city, police chief and sheriff to determine how they will handle the evidence.”
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