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

SPONSOR Gardner

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/21/08

HB 178

SHORT TITLE 9

th

District Community Prosecutions Program

SB

ANALYST Ortiz

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$50.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Administrative Office of the District Attorneys (AODA)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 178 appropriates $50 thousand from the general fund to Ninth District Attorney for

the purpose of implementing and maintaining community prosecution programs.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $50 thousand contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general

fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of a fiscal year shall revert

to the general fund.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

“Community prosecution" is a term used across the country to describe responsibilities that the

DA’s office is taking on outside of the courtroom. Community Prosecution involves a long-

term, proactive partnership among the prosecutor’s office, law enforcement, the community and

public and private organizations, whereby the authority of the prosecutor’s office is used to

prevent crime, solve problems, improve public safety, educate the public and enhance the quality

of life of community members. Community prosecution can address all types of crime; from

quality of life crimes to serious crimes. Over half of the prosecutor offices in the country are

House Bill 178 – Page

2

involved in community prosecution. According to the US Department of Justice, community

prosecution techniques are becoming “business as usual."

The 9

th

Judicial District Attorney’s office is involved in numerous community prosecution

programs, including but not limited to, MethWatch, Newman Project (a project to protect

seniors), Abolish Chronic Truancy, drug court, Pre-pros programs, Youth Resource Team of

Curry County, Teen Court, Law Enforcement Explorers, gun safety, graffiti clean-up programs,

Host program (reading to students), Hartley House board and programs (protect battered

women), Rescue 911 (providing cell phones to contact the police), serving on various civic

boards and committees, and Shoplift a Cop (Christmas gifts for children).

We are also looking into other potential programs including, but not limited to, vehicle/home/

asset seizure programs, domestic violence court, re-entry programs, junior district attorney

programs, crime prevention through environmental design, nuisance abatement (motel rental

agreement / apartment rental agreement), positive youth activity development / park

development, scrap metal theft prevention programs, and gang intervention programs.

In the Abolish Chronic Truancy program alone, the DA’s office gave presentations last semester

on the importance of staying in school in more than 20 schools in our community. The DA’s

office has produced informational pamphlets, videos, posters and has been involved in radio

advertisement related to the importance of school. The goal is to reduce chronic truancy by

educating students about school and about the problems that a student will face if he/she does not

complete school. This in turn will reduce the number of delinquent offenses in our community.

The DA’s office is interested in helping schools provide incentives for student’s attendance.

Through community donations, the DA’s office is giving away prizes to students who have

perfect attendance.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

The bill would significantly assist the DA’s office in the implementation and maintenance of the

above discussed programs.

EO/mt