Jackson Free Press

Attorney General Jim Hood recommended more money for the state crime lab and the Mississippi Medical Examiner's office at a Monday meeting with the House Judiciary Committee. The state currently allots $9.8 million to the state crime lab and the state Medical Examiner's office, but an attorney general's task force of district attorneys, the executive director of the Mississippi Association of Chiefs of Police, the president of the Prosecutors Association, Coroners Association and others, recommended almost doubling that amount, at least in the first year, to finance lab equipment, DNA analysis technology, medical examiners and support staff.

"The crime lab has been the red-headed step-child of state government, and regularly underfunded in both Republican and Democratic administrations. It has not been allowed to ask for funding," Hood said.

Criminal analysis in the state is currently fractured, with facilities in several different locations. Most states assign 1,000 square feet per employee, while Mississippi has more than 100 employees working in less than 30,000 square feet at its main facility.

Committee member Rep. Bryant Clark, D-Pickens, personally attested to the poor state of the circa 1976 crime lab located off Woodrow Wilson Drive.

"I was at the crime lab eight years ago, and even back then it was a mess, so I know it's falling apart now," said Clark, who described heavy leaks in the building almost a decade ago.

Hood said employees still have to regularly "move $100,000 machinery" to keep rainwater off it.

The task force is requesting the initial infusion of money, as well as a $40 million bond bill to pay for a consolidated facility, but Hood said he believed any additional funding above the current $9.8 million budget can be revenue neutral, thanks to an additional $13 to $15 fee on law enforcement citations. The state could generate $700 million for every $1 fee on tickets.

In addition to a new facility, Hood and the task force want the state to fund nine medical examiners, 14 support staff, commodities and travel. Arkansas, by comparison, has five full-time medical examiners, to Mississippi's zero—even though Arkansas has 100,000 fewer people than Mississippi. The task force also wants 11 additional DNA analysts; currently it has only five, to Arkansas' 12. Neighboring Alabama has 30.

Arkansas recently passed a law placing a $25 fee on all civil filings, and in four years has reduced its backlog of 16,000 cases to zero. Their turn-around on case evidence analysis is far superior to that of Mississippi, according to Hood's office.

The task force also recommended the state agree on a fee assessment for cases that result in guilty verdicts or pleas. Hood said the fee on fines and assessments could ultimately reverse the state's method of charging individual counties for drug, DUI and DNA tests. Mississippi is currently the only state that charges counties to conduct such tests, and, despite the charges, the state's turnaround time is not fast enough for some counties, like Madison, which out-sources lab tests to a private company, according to Madison County District Attorney Michael Guest.

Baker said he wanted to make clear that any additional fees would be charged to defendants in felonies, "not people running a stop sign."

Guest, a Republican, spoke up, assuring legislators that what they would get would be "a faster elimination of indictments, trials and convictions, as well as an increase in the speed and number of plea bargains."

Rep. Adrienne Wooten, D-Jackson, said she was surprised to be siding with the district attorneys on the case for increasing staff and facilities at the crime lab and the medical examiner's office.

"I'm a defense attorney, and I don't usually agree with the arguments of DAs, but I will support you in getting these conveniences," she said. "I've had clients who've been in jail for six or seven months. I can't say specifically that this is because they were waiting for test results, but I can say that it's because the DAs have not presented their cases to the grand jury, for whatever reason, and test results can be a part of it."

After the meeting, Rep. Phillip Gunn, R-Clinton, still said he wasn't sure of his support.

"We're all for what (Hood) presented, but the question remains is if we put the money in the system, what's the benefit from it? And I don't think they answered that question," he said.

The issue will be a delicate topic. Legislators resisting the funding will have to balance their arguments carefully or risk getting labeled by future opponents as "soft on crime." Gunn, in particular, is rumored to be a future candidate for the attorney general's office, and his continued opposition can come back to haunt him.

Previous Comments

ID

142399

Comment

I can't believe Gunn. Its not prisons that deter criminals - its the certainty they will be caught and for that you need the lab. Also, its horrible that people are waiting around in jail for the lab to send results to the DA.

Author

Pilgrim

Date

2008-12-18T14:09:56-06:00