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County Commissioners Looking for New Crime Lab Site

Provided, Hamilton County Coroner

  Hamilton County commissioners met behind closed doors with the county coroner Wednesday morning to discuss acquiring property for a new crime lab, but apparently came no closer to choosing a site.

In February, commissioners abandoned a plan on using part of the old Mercy Mount Airy Hospital for the new crime lab. Coroner LakshmiSammarco says finding a new home for the crime lab is a must, because the old one is cramped and out-of-date.

Sammarco came out of this morning's (Wednesday's) meeting saying they were making progress.

“The great thing is we continue to have discussions and everybody’s still working on it,’’ Sammarco said. “And that’s the important piece here – it’s not put on a back shelf and it’s still a priority.”

The commissioners themselves have said nothing on the real estate negotiations, but Sammarco said they are looking at “three or four” possible locations for a new crime lab. A decision will have to be made to either build a new lab or convert an existing building, she says.

County commission president Greg Hartmann refused to comment after the closed-door meeting.

Howard Wilkinson is in his 50th year of covering politics on the local, state and national levels.