AP
AP
COLUMBUS, Ga. —
Columbus has agreed to pay up to $66,500 to keep the Georgia Bureau of Investigation crime lab in the city open through June.
The state was scheduled to close the lab, which processes evidence for law enforcement agencies in 19 counties, at the end of this month. It’s one of three GBI labs that was slated for closure as the state tries to deal with a budget crisis.
Columbus Mayor Jim Wetherington, who had earlier opposed the plan, changed his mind when Irene Munn, legislative counsel in the lieutenant governor’s office, presented the possibility of the counties covering the cost until the end of June.
Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle says he will try to get full state funding for the lab for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
