NCJ Number
79626
Date Published
Unknown
Length
53 pages
Annotation
This document outlines a series of procedures for analyzing the fiscal impact of new or proposed legislation, regulations, or court orders on criminal justice systems and presents case studies to illustrate these techniques.
Abstract
This manual proposes that the analysis report begin with an overview highlighting aspects of the bill having significant fiscal impact and then identify the premises on which the analysis is based by defining all terms, assumptions, and standards used. The results of the investigation and analysis of factors relating to the impact on the affected organization should be presented. Areas to be covered include additional responsibilities that an agency may have to assume, costs, sources of funding, and possible duplication of efforts. A report should conclude with a summary of the evaluation's conclusions. For each section, the guide contains a general statement of the objective followed by a description of how to analyze the specific proposal to satisfy this goal. The following case studies are provided: legislation proposed by a State police agency to permit them to collect and report uniform crime data from all law enforcement agencies, a California bill requiring the sealing of all records pertaining to a defendant who is acquitted at trial, and a proposal by the Missouri State Highway Patrol superintendent to implement a new arrest booking system. Samples of cost and work unit standards available in various publications are appended.