OSBI plans to ask lawmakers for money to hire new staffers

Wednesday, February 23rd 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation plans to ask lawmakers for money to hire new staff members it needs to handle an escalating number of methamphetamine labs in thestate.

The agency figures it needs to double the present number of 14 lab workers, who are struggling to keep up with evidence coming in for analysis, said Kevin Kramer, an OSBI lab supervisor. OSBI also wants four new lab technicians and three more fingerprint experts. The additional 21 employees for 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," said Kramer, who had a stack of about 100 meth lab reports Tuesday that he needed to complete for prosecutors around the state.

Last year, 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," Anderson said. "And there are very few other law agencies who have people educated and trained to handle meth labs."

Right now, meth evidence submitted to the OSBI lab sits 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.

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," said Kym Koch, a spokeswoman for the agency. 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.