State's Attorneys and Sheriffs Cite Unanticipated IT, audit and expert-witness Costs in $445,800 Midyear Request

Tim Peters Dumont, executive director of the Department of State's Attorneys and Sheriffs, and Annie Noonan, director of labor relations operations for the department, told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Jan. 23 that the department faces several unexpected operating costs and is seeking roughly $445,800 in midyear adjustments.

The department described a cluster of primarily operating items that exceeded budgeted amounts: higher-than-expected state-managed SharePoint costs tied to body-camera and cruiser video storage; project-management costs for launching a new criminal case-management system (Matrix); outstanding audit costs for sheriff offices after a procurement produced a single higher-cost bidder; higher-than-anticipated expert witness and competency-evaluation bills; victim-advocate information-technology charges; and additional continuing legal education and training costs.

Peters Dumont summarized the size and character of the request, saying operating lines are the main focus because salaries and personnel have been prioritized. He described two recently-received bills associated with state IT services and said subsequent reconciliation reduced an initial $400,000 estimate to about $168,500 needed to carry SharePoint service through July 1. "We had a $42,000 bill, 425 that we've used was not anticipated," Noonan told the committee; after reviewing invoices with ADS the department revised the SharePoint figure.

On the case-management system, Peters Dumont said the department selected Matrix through a required RFP process and has used ARPA funding for earlier project phases; he asked the committee for about $60,000 in the current year to retain project-management support (Barry Dunn out of Portland, Maine) to keep the implementation on track. "We have 2 IT people. So the project management people from Barry Dunn literally are helping the train stay on the tracks," he said.

The department said they need additional funding to cover audit charges for sheriff offices because a recent procurement resulted in a single bidder (CLA) whose cost estimate exceeded historical budget assumptions; the department estimates an approximately $41,300 shortfall. Noonan said that historically sheriff audits were paid two-thirds by the state and one-third by sheriffs, and that the current procurement produced an unexpected higher bill.

Mental-health competency and expert evaluations have also driven costs above budget. Noonan said the department has seen a sharp increase in competency evaluation requests and that some providers contracted by the Department of Mental Health charge higher fees and require travel; that dynamic has increased expense for in-person expert testimony. The department also said more proceedings require transcription and translation services for non–English speakers, increasing those costs.

Other operating requests include $38,000 to cover victim-advocate IT bills and an approximately $30,000 increase in training costs for attorneys, victim advocates and support staff. The department reported that vacancy rates have improved and offices are nearly fully staffed, which reduces vacancy-savings but improves capacity to clear caseload backlogs.

The committee did not take a formal vote during the hearing; department leaders said they would supply a one-page memo on the items and stand ready to return in the near term with any further detail requested.

Ending: The department asked the committee to consider one-time and operating adjustments totaling roughly $445,800 to cover unanticipated bills and to sustain an ongoing Matrix implementation effort with project-management funding in the current year.