BUDGET SHORTFALL THREATENS STATE LABS

MONTGOMERY - The state's forensics chief said Friday that he may have
to quit transporting bodies and shut down regional crime labs,
including one in Tuscaloosa, because of money problems.

Dr. James C. Upshaw Downs, the state director of forensic sciences,
said he has written county officials advising them that his agency
needs about $2.25 million next year to keep all the offices open.

One money-saving option would be to consolidate a regional forensic
lab in Florence with the one in Huntsville, the Tuscaloosa and
Jacksonville labs with the one in Birmingham and the labs in Dothan
and Auburn with the one in Montgomery. The Mobile lab would be unaffected.

"We would basically roll those into larger ones, and that would be
more cost effective and No. 2 it would save us by not keeping
buildings open," Downs said. "Personnel would obviously have to report
to different duty stations."

Labs in Huntsville, Birmingham, Montgomery and Mobile would remain
open, Downs said.

He said investigators with police departments and sheriff's
departments would have to drive evidence to the remaining labs.

The Department of Forensic Sciences investigates unlawful, unnatural
or suspicious deaths and crimes for the governor, attorney general,
judges and district attorneys. The department's staff cooperates with
coroners, sheriffs and other law enforcement agencies.

The department performs tests in the areas of pathology, toxicology,
trace evidence, handwriting and documents, drug chemistry, firearms
and tool marks and forensic biology.

Downs said one of the first services to be cut would be the
department's long-standing policy of transporting bodies to crime labs
for tests.

"That's a business we're not mandated to provide, but we've provided
historically," he said. "The department cannot afford that
generosity."

District Attorney Association Director Randy Hillman, a former
district attorney, said the regional labs provide valuable services.

"When you take that away, you'll have to have a body moved halfway
across the state to get an autopsy done on it," Hillman said.

"It really is crippling to the DAs because we are so dependent on what
the department does for us to prove our cases," Hillman said. "I
cannot plead nor go forward on a drug case ... unless I get a drug
toxicology report that says this is cocaine or marijuana, for example."

Chris McCool, the district attorney for Fayette, Pickens and Lamar
counties, said those counties are just three of many that utilize the
Tuscaloosa lab. Closing it would delay cases that require autopsies
and other forensic evidence, he said.

"Prosecutors depend on the Department of Forensic Sciences to perform
the autopsies and forensic work needed in criminal cases," he said.
"They're already backed up. This would make it worse."

He said the change would have a greater impact on smaller
counties.

"I don't think it's a good idea at all," he said. "I know that they're
under a budget crunch like everyone else, but smaller counties like
ours end up suffering the most when it comes time for budget cuts."

Downs said his budget for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 was slashed
16 percent because of a decline in the revenue used to support the lab
and a decline in fines and fees that help pay for forensic labs.

For example, the department gets $100 for every DUI conviction, $2 for
each DNA test and fees from court records.

"Unfortunately, we're funded by crime and when crime goes down, our
revenues go down," he said. "It's not the fault of anyone or any
particular person."

Hillman said he believes the system is "headed for a shutdown."

"It comes back around to our system of taxing," he said. "[Other
states] are on ad valorem taxes which do not fluctuate with the
economy, nor does it follow the rise or fall in criminal acts."

Downs said the agency needs the $2.25 million "just to stay
even."

"It's an unfortunate situation but the reality is if you want service
you have to be prepared to pay for it and what we do is not cheap," he
said.

"Everything is literally on the table," Downs said of the department's
services.