Investigation agency facing cutbacks

Thursday, Jan. 30, 2003 | 9:13 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A major reduction is planned in the budget of the state Division of Investigations, officials said.

Gov. Kenny Guinn has recommended that the department's staff of 79 be cut by 39 positions.

The state will pull out of narcotic task forces in Ely, Elko, Fallon, Winnemucca, Mesquite, Carson City and South Lake Tahoe, under the recommendations. The task forces are joint federal, state and local government operations designed to crack down on drug trafficking.

Richard Kirkland, director of the Nevada Public Safety Department, said the state has received a $1.4 million grant each year from the federal government that had to be matched by state funds of $400,000.

To come up with the $400,000 in matching funds, the state used assets confiscated by drug dealers who had been arrested.

Kirkland told the Senate Finance Committee and the Assembly Ways and Means Committee that the "seizure funds have dried up." He said that's because drug dealers in the state hide their assets outside of Nevada or even outside of the country in order to skirt the law.

In addition, the 2001 Legislature passed a law that public schools would receive any amount of funds above $100,000 that was seized by law enforcement, Kirkland said.

Of the 39 positions the governor plans to cut, 21 are state positions and 18 are paid for by the federal grant.

The division provides assistance statewide in major investigations involving homicides, sexual assault, child abuse and narcotics.