Division of Criminal Justice Services

The enacted budget makes the following changes to the Executive Budget (analysis as of 4/4/07):

• Increases the division’s All Funds appropriation by $1 million, reflecting a maintenance undistributed appropriation in the Administration Program for the Office of Sex Offender Management.  Includes $750,000 in personal service funding.

 

• Rejects the Governor’s Article VII proposal to make permanent various criminal justice programs and fees and instead extends them for 2 years. 

 

·        Rejects the Governor’s proposals to expand the use of the Criminal Justice Improvement Account to purposes other than crime victim programs and to increase the fee charged by the Office of Court Administration (OCA) for a criminal history search in order to provide additional funding for civil legal services.

 

The Senate recommends (analysis as of March 16, 2007):

• Cuts $5.2 million in the Department’s State Operations budget; all of the cut is in the Funding and Program Assistance Program’s Special Revenue Federal appropriation for the Edward Byrne Memorial Grant program.  The $6.4 million local assistance appropriation for the Byrne grant program is also eliminated. Overall the division’s local assistance appropriation is cut by $45.9 million

 

The Executive Budget recommends (analysis as of February 5, 2007):

A FY 2007-08 workforce of 717.  This is an increase of 11 FTEs from the adjusted FTE level for FY 2006-07.  The following chart identifies adjustments in the current fiscal year’s FTEs along with the recommended differences in FY 2007-08 FTEs by program (if the FTE’s are the same the program is not listed):

 

Program	FY 2006-07 Adjustment	FY 2007-08 Difference
Administration	+20	0
Funding and Program Assistance	-38	0
Operations and Systems	+18	+11

 

• The chart suggests that during SFY 2006-07 there were position shifts out of the Funding and Program Assistance (-38) into the Administration Program (+20) and the Operations and Systems Program (+18)

 

• The total appropriation for Personal Service is $33.2 million, (a 10% increase).

 

• An All Funds decrease of $15.8 million, (12.4%) from SFY 2006-07, reflecting a decrease of $28.7 million in Special Revenue-Federal funding (55.5%), offset by increases in the General Fund ($9.4 million) and Special Revenue-Other Fund ($3.5 million).

 

• A $22 million reduction in the Funding and Program Assistance Program due to an anticipated reduction in federal grants to prevent crime, support law enforcement, improve the administration of justice and assist victims.  The reductions include $2.5 million in the Violence Against Women Account (Funding and Program Assistance Program) and 20.2 million in the Administration of Justice and Assist Victims account.

 

• Provides $399,000 in the Funding and Program Assistance Program for a new Local Agency Law Enforcement Account for local anti-auto theft programs.

 

• Development of a new case management system for the DNA Databank and enhancement of the Sex Offender Registry through a comprehensive case management system for sex offenders.

 

• A $1.2 million increase in the personal service appropriation in the Operations and Systems program. According to the Senate and Assembly $900,000 of this increase is attributable to costs associated with 11new Full Time Employees to handle an increased fingerprinting workload. This increase also includes moving six previously federally funded Full Time Employees to the General Fund.

 

• A $6.8 million increase in the nonpersonal services appropriation in the Operations and Systems Program, all of which is attributed to Contractual Services.  According to the Senate and Assembly this appropriation supports a new $5 million Crime Data Sharing Initiative. The purpose of this appropriation and whether any of this work can be done by state employees should be clarified at Labor/Management.

 

• A $5 million decrease in the federally funded Crime Identification and Technology Account within the Operations and Systems Program.

 

• The Executive Budget shows that DCJS employed an estimated 210 employees under consultant contracts in SFY 2006-07 at an estimated cost of $12.5 million or an average cost of $59,480 per consultant contract employee.  It is estimated that the number of employees employed under consultant contracts will stay the same in SFY 2007-08. Consultant contract employees will be paid $17.1 million SFY 2007-08 or an average cost of $81,628 per consultant contract employee, a 37% increase. The purpose and use of these contract employees and whether they can be replaced by state employees should be clarified at statewide labor management

 

·          Article VII legislation would make permanent various sections of law to ensure criminal justice program continuity.   Key programs and statutory provisions continued by this bill include:  determinate sentencing ; inmate work release and furlough; provisions related to substance abuse treatment for inmates; medical parole; alternatives to incarceration; ignition interlock program for those convicted of alcohol-related violations; mandatory arrest in cases of domestic violence; protective measures for child witnesses; and transfer of adult offenders between states.  This bill also makes permanent certain criminal justice fees and other revenue sources.  These include:  payment of fees related to sex offender and DNA databank registration; parole supervision fees; probation fees; fines related to traffic and parking violations; inmate court filing fees; and the motor vehicle law enforcement fee.

 

·          Article VII legislation would amend the State Finance Law to allow funds deposited into the Criminal Justice Improvement Account (CJIA) to be used for various criminal justice local assistance programs. Currently, funds in the CJIA are used exclusively to fund crime victim programs. The Executive also proposes to increase the fee charged by the Office of Court Administration (OCA) for a criminal history search in order to provide additional funding for civil legal services.