Harris County has begun construction on a new forensic science facility to be located in the Texas Medical Center. The nine-story, 200,000-square-foot facility is expected to be complete in 2017.

The Harris County forensic facility will be equipped with state-of-the-art technology as well as integrated clinical, laboratory, administrative, public and teaching/training areas. The center will feature work space for pathology, investigations, anthropology, neuropathology, entomology, emergency management, toxicology and evidence handling, among a variety of other practices in forensic science.

"The laboratories are designed as open environments that can be reconfigured quickly as equipment and methods evolve over time," said Roger Kahn, director of the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences crime laboratory. "This flexibility will allow the institute's crime laboratory to readily adapt to emerging technologies and remain at the forefront of forensic science."

The HCIFS provides medical examiner and crime laboratory services to the county, which features forensic genetics, drug chemistry, forensic toxicology, trace evidence and firearms identification.

Luis Sanchez, executive director and chief medical examiner for HCIFS, said the new forensic facility will foster collaboration between the medical examiner and crime laboratory services.

"The institute also serves as a teaching institution providing forensic training," Sanchez said.

The $65 million facility was funded in part through an $80 million bond approved in 2007, according to Harris County.