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

SPONSOR Crook

DATE TYPED 2/22/05

HB 563/a HJC

SHORT TITLE Increase Ninth Judicial District Attorney Staff

SB

ANALYST Medina

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained Estimated Additional Impact Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY05

FY06

FY05

FY06

$161.9

Recurring General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to Appropriation in the General Appropriation Act

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Response Received From

Ninth Judicial District Attorney

SUMMARY

Synopsis of HJC Amendment

The House Judiciary Committee amendment adds on page 1, line 19 the word “assistant” after

the word “additional” in order to clarify that the appropriation in the bill is to provide for two

additional assistant district attorneys rather than district attorneys which could be construed to

mean that the bill is attempting to fund two new elected district attorneys.

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 563 appropriates $161.9 from the general fund to the Ninth Judicial District Attorney

for the purpose of adding three permanent FTE. The bill expands the Ninth DA staff by a senior

trial attorney, an associate trial attorney and a program specialist due to increased workload.

Significant Issues

The Ninth Judicial District Attorney was just elected in November and the appropriation request,

which was that of district attorney’s predecessor, did not include any expansion. The agency’s

performance measure data indicate that attorney caseload is marginally higher than average. The

House Bill 563/aHJC -- Page 2

LFC recommended a 1.5 percent general fund increase to the Ninth DA, and a 2.3 percent in-

crease in personal services.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

In FY04 the Ninth DA reported an attorney caseload of 240. The agency requested and the LFC

recommended an attorney caseload target of 200. The addition of two attorneys would likely

make attainable the target of 200 cases per attorney.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $161.9 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.

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL.

The Ninth Judicial District Attorney Office will continue to be staffed at the current level.

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