OSBI SEEKS MORE METH AGENTS

To handle the escalating number of methamphetamine labs statewideThe
bureau has 14 lab workers who struggle to keep up with evidence coming
in for analysis, said Kevin Kramer, an OSBI lab supervisor.

The OSBI plans to ask lawmakers this session for money to hire 14
staff members who could respond to meth labs statewide. They also want
four new lab technicians and three more fingerprint experts. The 21
people to work meth-related cases would cost about $1.3 million a year
for salaries and vehicles.

"This would just be a way for us to keep up with the problem, not
really a way to keep us ahead," Kramer said. On Tuesday, he had a
stack of about 100 meth lab reports he needed to complete for
prosecutors statewide.

In 1999, the number of meth labs found by law officers statewide
totaled 781, compared to 269 in 1998.

The OSBI often investigates rural meth labs because most county
sheriff's offices and police departments don't have the money or staff
to handle the cases. Earlier this month in Garvin County, for example,
the sheriff's department responded to five separate meth labs in five
days, sheriff's Lt. Donnie Anderson said.

"This problem is not just here, but it is all over the state. And
there are very few other law agencies who have people educated and
trained to handle meth labs. The OSBI is being called by people all
over the state to process labs. They've got their hands full,"
Anderson said. He supports more money and staff positions for the OSBI.

Right now, meth evidence submitted to the OSBI labsits for about 100
days before a report is submitted to prosecutors, Kramer said.

"If we can't get to it, the district attorneys' offices can't
prosecute and it causes a backlog in the whole system," Kramer said.

OSBI Director DeWade Langley will submit the request for more
criminalists when he forwards a $22.1 million budget proposal for
fiscal year 2001. The current budget is $24.5 million. Extra money was
approved for this year for an automated fingerprinting system.

Langley wants a criminalist trained to handle meth labs to respond to
all rural meth labs reported in the state, OSBI spokeswoman Kym Koch
said. With extra help, they hope to spend only 30 days processing
evidence instead of 100 days.

"These meth labs are becoming so prolific it is becoming difficult to
provide service in a timely manner," Koch said.

Experts say up to 30 percent of the working population has
experimented with methamphetamine, a highly-addictive stimulant that
can be produced in powder or liquid form.

"Quite frankly, we don't see an end to the problem in sight," Koch
said.

Should lawmakers approve the extra funds to hire more help, the OSBI
hopes to hire more criminalists by the end of the year, Koch said.