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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

1/26/08

2/4/08 HB 352/aHCPAC

SHORT TITLE Change State Police Crime Lab Location

SB

ANALYST Peery-Galon

ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)

FY08

FY09

FY10 3 Year

Total Cost

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

Total

$0.1

$0.1

$0.1 Recurring General

Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Administrative Office of the District Attorneys (AODA)

General Services Department (GSD)

Department of Public Safety (DPS)

No Responses From

Association of Counties (AOC)

New Mexico Municipal League (NMML)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of HCPAC Amendment

The House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee amendment of House Bill 352 on page 2,

line 13 after the word “in" inserts “Bernalillo county or".

Synopsis of Original Bill

House Bill 352 amends Laws 2007, Chapter 64, Section 6 to read that the $1 million

appropriated from the general fund to the Property Control Division of the General Services

Department for expenditure in fiscal years 2007 through 2009 for the planning and designing of

a New Mexico State Police Crime Laboratory to be located in Santa Fe County, and deletes

previous language stating the crime labs location was to be adjacent to or within close proximity

to the State Laboratory Facility in Bernalillo.

House Bill 352/aHCPAC – Page

2

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

AODA states the proposed legislation does not address construction costs or furnishings, which

would presumably come in a later appropriation.

GSD states a recent review of state public works projects indicates that construction costs in

Santa Fe are comparable with Bernalillo County, so the change of location of the new State

Police crime lab would have little or no fiscal impact on construction costs. GSD already owns

land adjacent to the DPS headquarters in Santa Fe, but does not own land in Albuquerque. So

the proposed legislation would eliminate the need to buy land form the capital project funded

form State Office Building Tax Revenue Bonds.

DPS states that anticipated costs associated with placing this laboratory in Bernalillo rather than

Santa Fe include, but not limited to, cost of transporting personnel back and forth to headquarters

for day-to-day operations, anticipated supervisory costs for transportation between headquarters

and an off-site location, additional security measures necessary on an off-site location, costs for

personnel to utilize department aircraft in Santa Fe, cost associated with the delivery of evidence

by law enforcement personnel from Northern New Mexico to Bernalillo rather than Santa Fe,

and associated loss of productivity and additional delays in case work due to travel between to

locations by personnel.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

GSD states the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee amendment of House Bill 352

does not impact its original analysis. GSD reports the programming phase of the design process

will determine which location will best serve the programmatic needs of the agency.

AODA states the state crime lab is understaffed. By reports, they are understaffed because they

do not have sufficient space to house new analysts, and are unable to have additional space

without building a new crime lab. AODA states apparently it has been determined that sufficient

space would exist in Santa Fe.

GSD and DPS both state since the DPS headquarters is in Santa Fe, there are many financial and

administrative benefits to constructing the new crime laboratory in an adjacent location. (See

Attachment) GSD and DPS both note since the Albuquerque Police Department Metropolitan

Forensic Science Center serves Albuquerque law enforcement agencies and officers, there would

be no benefit to construction a new State Police Northern Forensic Laboratory in Albuquerque.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

AODA states a substantially larger-staffed crime lab is desperately needed in New Mexico.

While only related to acquisition and planning, the proposed legislation does take the first steps

to accomplishing this. AODA states the crime lab should be built where the best value for the

money can be obtained, where it would be easiest to attract and keep good staff, and where

ongoing costs do not usurp the budget in opposition to the salaries for good staff.

DPS notes as a major measure the ability of the Northern Forensic Lab to both address pending

case work and attract/retain quality personnel. DPS anticipates that a relocation of the lab to

Bernalillo would negatively impact both measures by creating a loss of productivity and

House Bill 352/aHCPAC – Page

3

additional delays in case work due to the travel between two locations by lab personnel and a

recent survey conducted within the Northern Forensic Lab indicates a majority of personnel

prefer the lab remain in Santa Fe. DPS notes the Northern Forensic Lab may lose qualified

personnel due to the relocation of the lab.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

DPS notes its administrative officers and support staff reside in Santa Fe, moving the Northern

Forensic Laboratory to Bernalillo would cause hardship, chain-of-custody concerns, security

concerns, possible delays in case work and anticipated additional operational costs to DPS.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

GSD and DPS both state the proposed change supports the DPS strategy to provide the most

cost-effective forensic laboratory facilities and staff to serve statewide needs for crime scene

investigations analysis. That strategy enhances the availability of crime lab resources that serve

152 state, local, federal and tribal law enforcement agencies throughout New Mexico.

DPS notes the administrative offices and support staff reside in Santa Fe, and moving the

Northern Forensic Lab to Bernalillo would delay support by the Information Technology

Division on critical systems utilized to both analyze and research case work by the lab personnel.

POSSIBLE QUESTIONS

AODA recommends the following questions regarding the issues:

•

Is it cheaper to build in Santa Fe than in Bernalillo.

•

Would recurring costs once built be cheaper in Santa Fe than Bernalillo.

•

Would staffing costs make it cheaper and easier to find employees for Bernalillo than

Santa Fe.

•

Is it more centrally located in Santa Fe or Bernalillo for all the outlying agencies that

would use the new state crime lab.

•

Would there be a problem of competition for staff between the Albuquerque Police

Department Lab in Bernalillo if another lab were built there versus Santa Fe.

RPG/mt