Carson City sheriff's offices officially opened

Senior Forensic Specialist Dean Higman and Crime Scene Investigator Kurt Urbanski are thrilled with their Crime Scene Investigation office at the new Sheriff's Administration Building.

It's twice as large with 100 percent less mold than the small space they occupied in the basement of the old building next door, set for demolition after Christmas.

Following a ribbon cutting ceremony on Tuesday attended by city officials and a few residents, Higman proudly showed off his new digs.

There's a room for chemical analysis, a room for light analysis and plenty of table space for all the other analysis. There's a separate room for paper work, and a separate nook that houses their computer gear.

A full-size skeleton that took up too much room in the old space looks small in the vastness of the new.

"At over 40,000 square feet, this facility will house law enforcement needs far exceeding the 20-year anticipated buildout," said Sheriff Kenny Furlong. "From Roop to Harbin streets and Musser to Second streets, Carson City has constructed one of the finest and most respectable public safety complexes in the state of Nevada."

The new building has a community room, private interviewing rooms, a combined records and civil division, space to house victim/witness advocates, a gym, traffic division, business offices, training and education rooms, coroner's office, crime lab, patrol division, DARE office, detective division with two interview rooms and a children's room and an evidence locker.

"I would like to take a moment and extend my sincere thanks to all of the staff and employees and volunteers who have persevered through the construction of the complex.

"Many have spent a year working atop plastic tables in lieu of desks. Many spent years working from dreary damp basements. Some worked from vacated jail cells and others shoulder to shoulder in confined spaces," said Furlong.

"This total project represented a major movement and commitment toward meeting the needs of this community and the employees who serve."

• Contact reporter F.T. Norton at ftnorton@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1213.