Montana DOJ outlines DCI budget, expands forensics and victim services while stressing fentanyl and digital-crimes demands

The Section D subcommittee heard a budget-and-program overview from the Montana Department of Justice(DOJ) for the Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI), which DOJ leaders said has added staff and new programs after a recent wave of legislative funding.

Attorney General Austin Knudson and DCI Administrator Lee Johnson told the committee that DCI is handling higher caseloads in major crimes, narcotics and digital forensics and that recent staff increases were necessary to meet those demands. Knudson said state special revenues support a significant share of DCI operations and that last sessionfunding has brought the division more capacity.

The overview matters because DCIsupports county and municipal law enforcement on homicide, officer-involved critical incidents, computer crimes, human trafficking and drug task forces across the state; its staffing and technology choices affect response times, case backlogs and victim services.

DOJ leaders described how session funding added positions across DCI bureaus and created new teams and technology to reduce backlogs. Knudson said the division now includes expanded major-case coverage, narcotics task-force integration and a larger computer-crimes lab. "DCI does really all of our major criminal investigations and a lot of our special services programs," Knudson said.

Lee Johnson, the DCI administrator,…