State breaks ground on new BCA office in Mankato

Minnesota officials broke ground on a new regional office and crime lab for the state’s main investigative criminal justice agency.

Gov. Tim Walz and public safety leaders attended a groundbreaking in Mankato for the new Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) facility on Monday afternoon.

“What this facility will be able to do is be able to process up to 6,000 cases, 12,000 pieces of evidence,” Walz said. “It will allow law enforcement not have to take time away to drive evidence up to the Twin Cities to have that evidence processed.”

RELATED: New BCA regional office coming to Mankato

The BCA already has offices in St. Paul and Bemidji, but officials say the new 56,000-square-foot facility will allow agents to respond to crime scenes in southern Minnesota much more quickly — significant, they say, in a field where time is critically important.

In addition to faster response times, BCA Superintendent Drew Evans highlighted ease of access to state-of-the-art forensics technology and training for the entire region.

“This represents a step forward not just for the BCA, but please think of this facility as a regional asset to all of southern Minnesota, not simply housing our staff but available and working together with our partners every day,” Evans said.

The new office and lab are expected to be finished late next year or early in 2027. Once complete, it will be home to 50 BCA agents, forensic scientists and a crime response team.
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