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Home My WebLink AboutLetter from Dept of Justice 07.15.08 - State Crime Lab Fees EDMUND G. BROWN JR. State of California Attorney General DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 1102 Q Street, 0Floor SACRAMENTO,CA 95814 Telephone:(916)319-9368 Facsimile:(916)319-9430 July 15,2008 SOARI)OF SUPeF?V1SOnS .JUL 2 3 2008 But Kim e CYamaguchi, County Supervisor OROVILLE, CALIFORNIA Butt County Board of Supervisors 747 Elliott Road Paradise, CA 95969 Re: State Crime Laboratory Fees Dear County Supervisor Yamaguchi: The Department of Justice (130J)operates I I regional crime laboratories through its Bureau of Forensic Services. These laboratories provide forensic services (such as latent fingerprint comparisons and toxicology analysis)to 47 of the state's 58 counties and to other law enforcement agencies. In the past, the operational funds to pay for these forensic services were paid for by the state's general fund. In other words,the services were provided to counties and law enforcement agencies at no direct cost. The 2008-09 state budget proposes to change this fiscal arrangement. If the Governor signs the budget in its current form, the DOJ will be required to begin charging laboratory users a fee for forensic services. Although Attorney General Jerry Brown has opposed and will continue to oppose shifting these costs,we need to prepare for the implementation of a fee-for-service program in case it becomes law. Thus, each state laboratory user will be contacted in the coming days to develop funding agreements regarding the implementation of a fee-for-service program. Without these funding agreements, the DOJ could be compelled to reduce its forensic services and consolidate the operations of its regional laboratories. In order to help you plan for these new costs, I am enclosing a proposed fee schedule. Based on the number and type of requests submitted by criminal justice agencies in Butte County last fiscal year,the estimated yearly costs will be $690,540. Given the short time frame that we were provided to pioneer this fee proposal, we will begin the program by charging a flat hourly rate. But as more workload data becomes available,we anticipate developing designated fees for specific services. G10, State Crime Laboratory Fees July 15, 2008 Page 2 If you have any questions regarding the proposed fee-for-service program, please call Bureau Chief Jill Spriggs, Bureau of Forensic Services, at(916) 319-9368. Sincerely, JILL SPRIGGS Chief Bureau of Forensic Services For EDMUND G. BROWN JR. Attorney General Enclosures Department of Justice July 15, 2008 Bureau of Forensic Services Fee Schedule (P.C. 11050) Proposed Rate Per Hour FY 08109 Average Time Average Cost Forensic Service (July 2008-July 2009) Per Request Per Request Non-DUI Alcohol $170 30 minutes $85 Controlled Substances $170 1 hour $170 Splits (alcohol, drug, toxicology) $170 1 hour 30 minutes $255 Latent Prints- Processing $170 11 hours 30 minutes $1,955 Latent Prints-Comparison $170 11 hours 30 minutes $1,955 Questioned Documents $170 24 hours $4,080 Toxicology-Screen $170 15 minutes $43 Toxicology-Confirmation $170 3 hours 15 minutes $553 Criminalistics: automated firearms $170 6 hours $1,020 firearms/tool marks/impressions $170 14 hours 45 minutes $2,508 trace evidence $170 26 hours $4,420 biological evidence $170 9 hours 45 minutes $1,658 DNA Analysis* $170 31 hours 15 minutes $5,313 general criminalistics $170 11 hours 15 minutes $1,913 reconstruction $170 24 hours $4,080 volatiles $170 5 hours 30 minutes $935 Scene Response $170 16 hours $2,720 Court $170 4 hours $680 Clandestine Laboratories $170 6 hours 45 minutes $1,148 Blood Alcohol (P.C. 1463.14) $35 per request(not hourly) N/A *Excluding DNA Databank submissions _(P.C. 295-300.3; G.C. 76104.6) ' Annual Cost Estimate bvCounty 7/15/08 Estimated Annual Estimated County Billable Hours Annual Cost Alameda 298.00 $50,660 Alpine 25.50 -$4,335 Amador 698.00 $118,660 Butte 4062.00 $690,540 6-alaveras 817.75 $139,018 Colus 1 221.00 $37,570 Contra Costa 117.25 $19,933 Del Norte 971.50 $165,155 El Dorado 1408.00 $239,360 Tre-sno 10357.50 $1,760,775 Glenn 1044.75 $177,608 Humboldt 2754.50 $468,265 Imperial 2433.00 $413,610 Inyo 250.75 $42,628 Kem 176.75 $30,048 Kings 2268.00 $385,560 ' Lake 1538.75 $261,588 Lassen 319.00 $54,230 Los Angeles 12077.00 $2,053,090 Madera 1931.00 $328,270 Marin 2371.75 $403,198 Mariposa 235.00 $39,950 Mendocino 2131.50 $362,355 Merc,-d 5408.00 $919,360 Modoc 172.50 $29,325 Mono 306.00 $52,020 Napa 1089.25 $185,173 Nevada 1752.50 $297,925 Orange 108.00 $18,360 1653.00 $281,016 Placer Plumas 402.25 $68,383 Riverside 26411.50 $4,489,955 �-a-cramento 2154.25 $366,223 San Benito 911.25 $154,913 San Bernardino 1186E.75 $201,748 San Diego 56.75 $9,648 San Francisco 273.00 $46,410 San Joaquin 10999.75 $1,869,958 San Luis Obispo 1116.25 t-I-89,763 Sant i Barbara 8678.00 $1,475,260 85.25 $31,493 Santa Cruz 4339.75 $737,758 Shasta 4696.$75 $7984,448 Sierra 170.00 $28,900 Siskiyou 947.50 $161,075 3042.25 $517,183 5381.25 14813 Page 1 of 2 Annual Cost Estimate by County 7/15/08 Estimated Annual Estimated County Annual Cost Billable Hours @$170 Rate Stanislaus 7485.25. $1,272,493 Sutter 851.50 $144,755 Tehama 1011.00 $171,870 Trinity 273.50 $46,495 Tulare 5277.00 $897,090 Tuolumne 1247.00 $211,990 Ventura 34.50 $5,865 Yolo 2489.50 $423,215 Yuba 1176.50 $200,005 Federal (l3LM,DEA,Fl3l,NPS,Military,ATF) 2024.75 $344,208 Doi Division of Law Enforcement 1939.25 $329,673 State (DMV,CHP,Corrections,CYA,Univ, 14818.001 $2,519,060 ,DPF,CDF,DFG,ABC,DCA,etc.) Page 2 of 2