A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO APPROPRIATE AND INCREASE FUNDING FOR JUSTICE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT, TO FULLY FUND THE NORTH CAROLINA SEX OFFENDER WATCH INITIATIVE, TO FUND THE STATEWIDE AUTOMATED FINGERPRINT IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM (SAFIS) REPLACEMENT, TO FUND LAW ENFORCEMENT EFFORTS TO PROTECT CHILDREN AND ADULTS FROM SEXUAL PREDATORS, TO SPEED THE PROCESSING AND ANALYSIS OF DNA, DRUG EVIDENCE, AND COMPUTER FORENSIC EVIDENCE, TO PROVIDE NEW FUNDING TO IMPROVE INTERDICTION EFFORTS TO COMBAT THE INCREASE IN METHAMPHETAMINE TRAFFICKING, AND MORE EFFECTIVELY COMBAT FINANCIAL CRIMES, IDENTITY THEFT AND PUBLIC CORRUPTION, TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS TO PAY SBI PERSONNEL A MORE COMPETITIVE WAGE SO AS TO RECRUIT AND RETAIN EXPERIENCED LAW ENFORCEMENT PROFESSIONALS, TO PROVIDE FUNDS TO EXPAND TRAINING FOR ALL LAW ENFORCEMENT AND TO FUND FIVE NEW ATTORNEYS TO ADDRESS THE GROWING WORKLOADS IN FOUR CRITICAL AREAS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Justice the sum of three hundred three thousand five hundred sixty‑four dollars ($303,564) for the 2006‑2007 fiscal year to fully fund the North Carolina Sex Offender Watch Initiative and to support two new information technology staff positions to help build, implement, and maintain this program.  More than 9,900 convicted sex offenders are currently listed on the North Carolina Sex Offender Registry. Through the current Sex Offender Registry, people across the State can learn the names, addresses, and offenses of sex offenders and view their photos online.  However, local law enforcement knows that some sex offenders move frequently and, more troubling, hunt for new victims.  Informing people more quickly and pinpointing where sex offenders live will help parents protect children from predators.
The North Carolina Sex Offender Watch Initiative is designed to use new technology to provide more current and useful information by:  (i) allowing residents of a community to be notified by e‑mail immediately when a sex offender moves into their neighborhood, and (ii) using GIS mapping to show exactly where an offender lives in relation to a neighborhood, school, day care center, business, or any other location of concern.
SECTION 2.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Justice the sum of one million nine hundred sixty‑three thousand seven hundred sixty‑eight dollars ($1,963,768) for the 2006‑2007 fiscal year to fund the replacement of the Statewide Automated Fingerprint Identification System (SAFIS) and to support one new information technology staff position to coordinate the implementation and deployment of this critical law enforcement information system project.  SAFIS is a vital law enforcement and public safety resource that serves over 500 law enforcement agencies.  Law enforcement can use this system to pinpoint a suspect in a matter of minutes using the unique identifiers found on fingerprints left at a crime scene.  SAFIS has stopped sex offenders and other criminals from working at the bedsides of our most vulnerable senior citizens and in the classrooms right next to our children.  Hundreds of law enforcers, schools, nursing homes, and child care facilities depend on the automated fingerprint system to disqualify job applicants with criminal records.  This computerized fingerprint system protects all North Carolinians by solving crimes and helping to put criminals in jail.  It also keeps felons and other dangerous individuals out of positions where they could prey on our State's most vulnerable residents.
SECTION 3.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Justice the sum of one million five hundred fifty‑five thousand two hundred sixteen dollars ($1,555,216) for the 2006‑2007 fiscal year to deploy 20 new SBI investigators in the following critical areas:
(1)	Full funding for five new SBI Computer Crime and Computer Forensics investigators to increase undercover law enforcement efforts to catch child predators and speed the analysis of computer forensic evidence used to arrest and prosecute these predators.
(2)	Full funding for two new DNA investigators to further expedite and improve DNA evidence processing. DNA evidence is critical evidence that can be used to identify suspects and convict sex offenders.
(3)	Full funding for four Drug Chemists, one Drug Chemistry Technician and one Office Assistant to expedite the processing of 30,000 annual drug and toxicology samples for use in criminal prosecutions.
(4)	Full funding for three new SBI Field Agents to enhance drug interdiction efforts with a focus on methamphetamine trafficking.
(5)	Full funding for four new SBI Field Agents to combat growing incidence of financial crimes, public corruption and identity theft and related cases.
SECTION 4.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Justice the sum of three hundred eighty‑five thousand three hundred twenty‑five dollars ($385,325) for the 2006‑2007 fiscal year to fund pay equity increases in the State Bureau of Investigation, in order to pay SBI personnel a more competitive wage so as to recruit and retain experienced law enforcement professionals for the State's premiere law enforcement agency.
SECTION 5.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Justice the sum of four hundred thirty‑six thousand four hundred eighty dollars ($436,480) for the 2006‑2007 fiscal year to fund increased training requirements for over 29,000 State and local law enforcement officers, approximately 7,000 detention officers and all certified telecommunicators (911 operators) and to fund a new online training and registration system along with three new positions to support the deployment of this critical law enforcement training.
SECTION 6.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Justice the sum of two hundred thirty‑two thousand nine hundred seventy‑nine dollars ($232,979) for the 2006‑2007 fiscal year to hire five critical staff attorneys to address workload demand in the Criminal Appellate, Law Enforcement Liaison, Revenue, and the Waste Management Sections of the Department of Justice.
SECTION 7.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Justice the sum of seven hundred seventy‑two thousand five hundred dollars ($772,500) for the 2006‑2007 fiscal year to comply with S. L. 2003‑404 that mandated conversion of State offices located on Blount Street to private ownership.  The Department of Justice Information Technology Division operates a 24/7 police information computer center that provides mission critical law enforcement data to over 11,000 State, local, and federal law enforcement officers throughout North Carolina. To make this required move seamless, a backup computer center is critical to ensure the uninterrupted transition from Blount Street.  Annual backup center charges are ninety‑six thousand dollars ($96,000) a year and onetime equipment and moving expenses are seven hundred thousand five hundred dollars ($700,500) for fiscal year 2006‑2007.
SECTION 8.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2006.