Fiscal impact reports (FIRs) are prepared by the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) for standing finance
committees of the NM Legislature. The LFC does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of these reports
if they are used for other purposes.
Current FIRs (in HTML & Adobe PDF formats) are a vailable on the NM Legislative Website (legis.state.nm.us).
Adobe PDF versions include all attachments, whereas HTML versions may not. Previously issued FIRs and
attachments may be obtained from the LFC in Suite 101 of the State Capitol Building North.
F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Lujan, B
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
2/18/07
HB 1289
SHORT TITLE Hobbs Crime Laboratory
SB
ANALYST Peery-Galon
APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)
Appropriation
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY07
FY08
NA
$450.0
Recurring
General Fund
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)
FY07
FY08
FY09 3 Year
Total Cost
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
Total
NA
$80.0
$80.0
$160.0 Non-
Recurring General
Fund
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC)
Administrative Office of the District Attorneys (AODA)
Department of Public Safety (DPS)
No Responses Received From
Public Defender Department (PDD)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
House Bill 1289 appropriates $450.0 from the general fund to the Department of Public Safety to
operate a crime laboratory in Hobbs.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The appropriation of $450.0 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund. Any
pg_0002
House Bill 1289 – Page
2
unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2008 shall revert to the
general fund.
DPS states the appropriation being requested assumes the City of Hobbs and Lea County will
provide a refurbished building ready for occupancy as a forensic laboratory including equipment,
subsidized rent and utilities.
To establish a satellite crime laboratory in Hobbs, New Mexico, it will require purchasing
laboratory equipment, hiring laboratory personnel and providing annual training. In support of
this effort, Lea County and the City of Hobbs have joined together to dedicate a facility that will
be remodeled to house the crime lab. AODA states this county and municipal effort will
significantly reduce the cost to the state in establishing the new facility.
AODA notes the necessary equipment needed includes gas chromatograph mass spectrometers,
gas chromatographs, infrared and gas chromatograph spectrophotometers and microscopes.
AODA states the cost of the individual items of equipment ranges from $20,000 for suitable
microscopes, to $80,000 for gas chromatographs and as much as $150,000 for gas
chromatograph mass spectrometers.
The crime lab will require a director and two to three analysts who will perform analyses and
travel to testify in court. AODA reports the salary range for analysts to be from $29,000 to
$51,000 annually and the director’s salary to be approximately $100,000 annually. AODA notes
the annual training is estimated to be approximately $6,000 per year. The salary and training
costs would be somewhere between $282,000 and $344,000 per year. The personnel costs would
be recurring expenditures for the Department of Public Safety.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
DPS states the most significant issue facing the proposed legislation is the recruiting and
retention of qualified forensic scientists. The Department of Public Safety’s Forensic Laboratory
Bureau is currently requesting the services of a professional recruiting agency to fill vacancies.
DPS states there is an additional non-recurring expense if $80 thousand for fiscal years 2008 and
2009 for the recruiting fees for the forensic scientists. If the positions are filled in fiscal year
2008, the fiscal year 2009 funding for recruitment fees will not be needed.
The backlog at state crime laboratory facilities has repeatedly been highlighted in news reports
during the fall of 2006. Laboratory facilities are severely overburdened with pending cases, and
extensive travel of analysts to distant locations to testify in court proceedings against defendants
charged with drug crimes. Currently, there are two state crime labs: Northern Crime Lab located
in Santa Fe and Southern Crime Lab located in Las Cruces. It is not uncommon for analysts to
be served with subpoenas which demand their simultaneous appearance in multiple jurisdictions
on a single day, often in locations far removed from the lab locations.
AODA reports the backlog is so great that the Northern and Southern Crime Labs that often they
do not process samples until there is a court date. AODA states the defense bar, aware that the
unavailability of lab results will preclude conviction, often refuses to engage in plea negotiations
until drug lab analysis results have been received. Cases end up in the court system for many
months when they could have been resolved quickly with available lab analysis. AOC notes this
also forces victims, family members, witnesses and other to wait longer for case resolution. This
pg_0003
House Bill 1289 – Page
3
congestion in the courts often results in cases lost through dismissal, or failure to file due to the
inability of the state to prove the substances in question were illegal drugs. AODA notes this
happens even though the seized substances field test positive as illegal drugs and the
circumstances surrounding the arrest fully support that the individuals were engaged in drug
crime.
AODA reports the proposed crime laboratory would be located in Hobbs, New Mexico, and
would primarily serve the Fifth, Ninth, Tenth and Twelfth judicial districts. The southeastern
part of the state has a severe problem with methamphetamine abuse as well as other drug abuse
and trafficking. AODA notes establishing a satellite crime lab would significantly enhance
community efforts to control drug related crime.
PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS
The Department of Public Safety has the performance measure “percent of deoxyribonucleic acid
cases processed within seventy days from submission." The target for this measure in fiscal year
2006 was 90 percent and the actual in fiscal year 2006 was 44.8 percent.
AOC states the proposed legislation may have an impact on performance measures pertaining to
cases disposed of as a percent of cases filed and percent change in case filings by case type.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
DPS states there should be no significant administrative impact. The Forensic Laboratory
Bureau Chief will be required to travel to oversee some of the operations and will be involved in
the accreditation process.
CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP
The proposed legislation has a relationship with Senate Bill 1157 which appropriates $750
thousand to the Department of Public Safety for the same purpose.
OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
AODA states the burgeoning methamphetamine problem in New Mexico exacts an enormous
toll in wasted lives and drug-ridden communities. A significant proportion of the property
crimes in affected areas are committed by addicted individuals desperate to obtain enough
money to buy more drugs. There are frequently young children who suffer serious neglect due to
the parent’s drug abuse, and who subsequently end up in the custody of CYFD. AODA notes the
cost to the victims and to the citizens of New Mexico from unchecked methamphetamine and
other drug abuse is significant in both dollars and lives.
On December 5, 2006, the governor announced a $751 thousand funding increase for the state
crime labs to hire eight new technicians and increase scientist salaries by 10 percent to help
reduce the backlog of crime analysis. Also, the governor stated he would ask the State Board of
Finance to fund a $500 thousand emergency loan to the Department of Public Safety for a
portable crime lab addition to the Southern Crime Lab in Santa Fe. This request was made and
the State Board of Finance did fund the $500 thousand emergency loan to the Department of
Public Safety. The Department of Public Safety is requesting a special appropriation in fiscal
pg_0004
House Bill 1289 – Page
4
year 2008 to repay the loan to the State Board of Finance.
ALTERNATIVES
AODA reports an alternative is to the proposed legislation is to increase the staffing at the
Southern Crime Lab in Las Cruces sufficiently to accommodate the demand for drug testing and
analysis and the demand on personnel to travel to testify in court proceedings in distant areas of
the state.
RPG/mt