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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Sánchez, M.

DATE TYPED 2/28/05

HB

SHORT TITLE Thirteenth Judicial District Attorney

SB 857

ANALYST Medina

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained Estimated Additional Impact Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY05

FY06

FY05

FY06

$389.4

Recurring General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to Appropriation in the General Appropriation Act

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Response Not Received From

Administrative Office of the District Attorneys (AODA)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 857 appropriates $389.4 from the general fund to the Office of the Thirteenth Judicial

District Attorney for the purpose of providing for increased levels of attorneys and staff to han-

dle increased workload.

Significant Issues

The Thirteenth Judicial District, which includes Cíbola, Valencia and Sandoval counties, is ex-

periencing significant growth and a corresponding increasing caseload. The appropriation to the

Thirteenth Judicial District Attorney contained in HAFC Substitute for HB 2 et al. includes $59.0

and a 1 FTE expansion for an additional senior trial attorney in Valencia County. HAFC Substi-

tute for HB 2 et al. also includes $851.6 for salary increases for district attorney staff, including a

5 percent compensation increase for attorneys.

Senate Bill 857 -- Page 2

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

With additional attorneys the agency will likely achieve better performance on the agency’s effi-

ciency measure, “average attorney caseload”, which in fiscal year 2004 reached 285 cases.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $389.4 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund. Any

unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2006 shall revert to the

general fund.

The LFC FY06 appropriation recommendation is balanced between revenues and expenditures

and any increase in recurring funding must be offset by reductions in other areas of the recom-

mendation. The Legislature must consider all priorities and funding requirements to find reve-

nue to support this legislation.

POSSIBLE QUESTIONS

Is the intent of this bill to provide for salary increases for existing staff or to increase staff to

handle workload.

DXM/sb