Umatilla County commissioners fight to keep state crime lab

PENDLETON, Ore. (AP) - The Umatilla County Board of Commissioners wants to keep the Oregon State Police crime lab in Pendleton.

Commissioners on Wednesday approved a resolution opposing the potential closure of Eastern Oregon's only Forensic Services Division facility.

Gov. Kate Brown had proposed closing the lab and sending its six employees to other labs in the state as a cost-cutting measure in the next biennium.

According to the commissioners' resolution, closing the Pendleton lab would save the state $1.5 million but would make the closest lab be 212 miles away in Clackamas. Lab workers would still have to drive about three hours from the Clackamas lab to testify in Umatilla County if they were to move facilities.