Idaho State Police broke ground August 25, 2026, on a $29 million forensic laboratory across from agency headquarters in Meridian, a 20,000-square-foot building meant to keep crime-lab work in Idaho as the Treasure Valley keeps adding people.

Hoffman Construction is construction manager and general contractor. Lombard Conrad Architects is leading design, with SmithGroup as design consultant. Officials expect the lab to open in January 2028. It is phase one of a larger forensic expansion; later phases are designed but not funded yet.

The new building will house DNA casework, latent print examination, digital forensics, and the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network, plus space for whole genome sequencing so advanced DNA work that now leaves the state can be done in Meridian. In fiscal year 2026, ISP Forensic Services took in 16,069 case submissions, including 3,745 DNA samples, and supported 114 law enforcement agencies, prosecutors in all 44 counties, 14 public defender offices, and 44 coroners.

Gov. Brad Little, who joined ISP Director Col. Bill Gardiner at the ceremonial shovel, tied the lab to growth. “The people that have been here expect a safe environment. And you can’t have effective law enforcement if you don’t have the tools that they need to do their job,” Little said.

Matthew Gamette, laboratory system director, said the current lab is out of desks, bench space, and room for instruments. Average DNA turnaround is already about 30 to 45 days; the goal is to get routine results down to hours once scientists can spread out instead of swapping equipment between cases.

Construction is paid for with state general funds from House Bill 779, approved in 2022. For people moving to Meridian and the west valley, this is another piece of state infrastructure catching up with population: a dedicated forensics building, hundreds of construction jobs through 2028, and a clearer path to keeping serious cases in Idaho instead of shipping evidence out of state.

Stay tuned to Treasure Idaho for continued coverage of projects shaping the Treasure Valley.

Project Quick Facts

• Name: Idaho State Police Forensic Services Laboratory
• Location: Across from ISP Headquarters, Meridian (700 S. Stratford Dr. area)
• Investment: $29 million
• Size: 20,000 square feet
• What it houses: DNA, latent prints, digital forensics, NIBIN, whole genome sequencing
• General contractor: Hoffman Construction
• Architect: Lombard Conrad Architects (SmithGroup consulting)
• Funding: Idaho general fund, House Bill 779 (2022)
• Target opening: January 2028

Photo credit: Kyle Pfannenstiel / Idaho Capital Sun