Administration

Ray Higgins, Fiscal Officer/Treasurer
Mark B. Jackson, Director of Legal Services
Bill Malueg, Inspector, Professional Standards
LuAnne Worley, Director of Personnel Office
John Bankhead, Director of Public Affairs Office
Jon Paget, Director of Staff Services

FINANCE OFFICE

The primary mission of the GBI Finance Office is to provide sound, solid advice and financial management to the Director's Office, the Administrative Division, the Investigative Division, the Division of Forensic Sciences, and the Georgia Crime Information Center . GBI Finance also administers the funds for the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC), attached to the GBI for administrative purposes. The Finance Office is supervised by the agency's fiscal officer/treasurer and consists of three main units: Budget, Accounting and Purchasing. The office is supported by 21 employees and is responsible for all financial transactions involving the agency.

Budget

The Budget Unit is supervised by a budget administrator and consists of four budget analysts. The unit is responsible for the development and management of the GBI budget. Likewise, this unit is responsible for monitoring all expenditures from work units as well as fund sources for the entire agency. Each member of the Budget Unit works directly with division personnel to provide guidance and approval of expenditures for travel and operating costs, including monitoring of all grants. The unit also is responsible for processing all allotments through the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget to the Office of Treasury and Fiscal Services. All amendments to the Annual Operating Budget are developed and processed by the budget staff.

During FY'04, the budget staff managed an overall Annual Operating Budget of $79,152,663 (GBI only, CJCC not included), while creating and developing the FY'04 Amended, Information Technology, and FY'05 budget requests. The effort resulted in an FY'05 state appropriation of $57,311,970 (GBI only, CJCC not included).

Accounting

The Accounting Unit is responsible for all accounting transactions, including the reconciliations of cash accounts, GA Fund I accounts, subsidiary ledgers and the general ledger. The unit also handles all of the accounting transactions for the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC), attached to the GBI for administrative purposes. CJCC accounts for a large portion of GBI revenue, including several federal grants as well as many cash disbursements and sub-grant payments. The Accounting Unit is a lead contact with the State Department of Audits, supervised by the accounting director, and is broken down into three main sections: Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable and Payroll.

The Accounts Receivable Section (AR) consists of three employees and a supervisor. The section is responsible for all revenue received by the GBI. In FY'04 the unit collected and recorded more than $129 million through 52,000 check deposits, and processed electronic fund transfers from several different fund sources, including state funds, governor's emergency funds, federal grants and forfeitures. In conjunction with the Georgia Crime Information Center (GCIC), the section received and recorded more than $1.4 million in revenue collections for instant gun check, criminal history and fingerprint-licensing programs. The section is responsible for transmitting all revenue collections to the state treasury on a monthly basis.

The Accounts Payable Section (AP) consists of three employees and a supervisor. This section is responsible for processing all payments for the GBI and CJCC. In FY'04, the section disbursed approximately 17,437 checks and made more than 1,541 electronic payments for sub-grant payments, travel reimbursements, and invoice payments. In addition to these day-to-day responsibilities, the section is responsible for all 1099 processing and semi-annual prompt pay reports. AP also assists in travel and per diem expense reconciliations. Likewise, AP administers the American Express card travel program and enters payments for charges on our purchasing cards as well as payments for all rental space.

The Payroll Section supervisor is responsible for all GBI payroll matters and this section processes the semi-monthly payroll for all employees of the GBI and the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council. During FY'04, payroll effectively processed approximately 2,247 paychecks and 18,175 direct deposits in a timely manner. In addition to the routine payroll operations, payroll also is responsible for financial entries to create deductions for items such as insurance premiums, contributions to the 401K program, payments to the credit unions, and entries for all salary adjustments.

Purchasing

The Purchasing Section of the Finance Office has three employees. The section is responsible for entering all purchase orders for the GBI and CJCC. Last year, purchasing entered approximately 1,259 purchase orders for various items, such as vehicle purchases, large equipment purchases, repairs and maintenance.

Similarly, Purchasing has the primary responsibility of overseeing the Visa Purchasing Card Program (P-Card) and training employees on the use and reconciliation of the cards.

In FY'04, there were 8,433 transactions on the P-Card from more than 550 cardholders. As a result, approximately $1,637,243 in P-Card activity took place.

The Purchasing Section is responsible for coordinating the entire procurement process by ensuring the Finance Office has all appropriate documentation. Purchasing also acts as the print coordinator for the agency and handles all in-house procurements by coordinating the bid process.

LEGAL SERVICES

The Legal Services Division is staffed with six full-time employees, including two attorneys (the director and deputy director); an assistant deputy director (ADD); two legal assistants, and a records management technician.

Open Records

The Open Records Unit, which includes archives management, is within Legal Services and functions under the direction of the ADD. The ADD has a legal assistant and a records management technician to assist in the processing of open records and archives requests. Requests pursuant to the Georgia Open Records Act have continued to increase, from 2,445 in FY'03 to 2,904 in FY'04. In addition to the requests, the Open Records Unit processed 97 subpoenas, 62 court orders, 105 production of document requests, and orchestrated the release of more than 140 biological specimens.

The Open Records Unit continued to provide training sessions to various criminal justice agencies throughout the state regarding the Open Records Act. More than 900 personnel were trained on this subject throughout the year.

Legal Information

In addition to the open records function, Legal Services provides legal information to the GBI and its employees via training and legal updates. The office conducted 22 training sessions for current agents, new agents and supervisors. During FY'04, seven new civil cases were filed and 22 civil cases were resolved. The office coordinated with the Georgia Attorney General's Office in handling these cases.

The Legal Services Division drafted proposed legislation regarding criminal penalties to individuals who expose children to the harmful elements of the manufacturing of methamphetamine. The bill also increases the penalties when a child suffers physical injury from the exposure.

During the G-8 Summit, Legal Services was responsible for swearing in approximately 1,170 local and state law enforcement officers as temporary special agents. Prior to swearing in these officers, Legal Services prepared a Memorandum of Understanding, Oath of Office, Officer Certification and Certification of Officer forms for use in obtaining needed information from the 99 agencies who assisted during the G-8 Summit. P.O.S.T. (Peace Officers Standards & Training) records were checked for all officers to ensure compliance with state law training requirements. Upon completion of the Memorandums of Understanding between the agency head and the GBI director, these officers were sworn in by Legal Services at different venues throughout the state of Georgia and even South Carolina . The swearing-in process began in late April and continued right up until two days before the summit began.

OFFICE OF PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS

The Office of Professional Standards (OPS) is responsible for investigating allegations of misconduct made against GBI employees. The office reviews and investigates all complaints, determining whether they have legitimacy or lack merit. Each year the complaints are reviewed and studied to identify any patterns of misconduct. Based on those findings, OPS then recommends appropriate actions and/or training. In FY'04 the Office of Professional Standards documented its investigations through three primary means: internal affairs investigations, preliminary inquiries, and reviews of incidents. OPS also conducts exit interviews and reviews all uses of force by GBI agents and Drug Task Force agents that are GBI supervised.

During FY'04, the Office of Professional Standards:

• Conducted 21 internal affairs investigations
• Conducted nine preliminary inquiries
• Conducted four reviews of incidents
• Conducted 17 reviews of use of force
• Conducted 79 exit interviews.
• Conducted 25 personnel actions not requiring a formal investigation.

PERSONNEL OFFICE

The Personnel Office is comprised of one part-time and seven full-time employees. The office is responsible for providing support to the three divisions and the Administrative Section of the GBI in all human resource matters. The routine responsibilities include the following: recruiting and hiring of new employees; processing personnel transactions; handling employee relations matters; classifying positions; developing new and revising existing agency jobs; monitoring the compensation structure; establishing minimum job qualifications; administering Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) services; administering the agency's drug screening program; overseeing the performance management process; assisting employees with benefits; serving as the liaison for workers' compensation; coordinating the student internship and youth apprenticeship programs; and managing the Employee Assistance Program (EAP).

The Office of Personnel coordinated management training for new supervisors, which included evaluating employee performance and legal issues. Personnel Office staff made concerted efforts to ensure that equal employment opportunities were available to a diverse population by making its job vacancy notices available to a variety of audiences and organizations. The office also provided recruitment information via private and government web sites. In addition to their regular duties, Personnel Office staff provided information and assistance for the national reaccreditation process through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies

(CALEA) as well as implemented an agency telework program. Representatives of the Personnel Office are currently participating in statewide meetings to provide input into the new Career Banding System, the state's new classification system that will be implemented in 2006.

FY'04 Personnel Office Activity:

• Approximately 719 applications for employment were received and processed.
• Approximately 574 personnel transactions were completed and processed (promotions, new appointments, transfers, retirements, separation, etc.).
• Approximately 120 applications were processed for the internship program, with 25 college students placed.

PUBLIC AFFAIRS

STAFF SERVICES

Staff Services provides a variety of support functions for the GBI, including facility management, fleet management, asset management, telecommunications, agent supply, and mail.

The Facility Management Section worked on the following projects during FY'04:

. Northeast Regional Crime Lab & Region-8 Investigative Office, Cleveland :

These two facilities were built on approximately eight acres of land near Cleveland ( White County ). The new investigative office is now furnished and occupied. It replaced an older facility located in Gainesville that no longer met operational needs.

The crime laboratory is completed and furnished. The instrumentation is being purchased and will be installed in fall of 2004. Occupancy of the facility will begin in fall 2004. When staffed and equipped, it will be able to provide forensic services local to the northeast region of the state.

. Central Regional Crime Lab: Construction is complete on a new 15,000-square-foot Central Regional Crime Lab in Macon ( Bibb County ). It is occupied and fully operational. This facility replaces the existing 21-year-old 7,000-square-foot laboratory building and provides much needed modern laboratory space and a morgue. The facility consists of two structures, the lab building and a freestanding morgue building.

. Southwestern Regional Crime Lab: Construction is almost complete on a laboratory and morgue annex to the Southwestern Regional Crime Lab in Moultrie ( Colquitt County ). Like the Coastal Regional Crime Lab Annex completed last year, this 10,000-square- foot addition provides additional toxicology lab space, a medical examiner suite and morgue.

. Crime Analysis Garages: This project provides for the building freestanding crime analysis garages at six of regional investigative offices. These garages will provide office space, a garage bay and lab space for the regional crime scene specialist. Three of these garages were completed at regional investigative offices in Perry, Thomasville , and Kingsland prior to FY'04. The fourth garage in Athens , and a fifth one in Eastman were just completed. Evidence is brought to these specialized garages and processed in a controlled environment.

. GCIC Renovation: This project was completed this year. It renovated the open office space currently occupied by GCIC to provide a more efficient layout. It updated furniture system and revised power, phone and computer distribution. Georgia Correctional Industries provided and installed the workstations. Required power, phone and computer modifications were simultaneously performed.

Supply and Mailroom

The staff of the Supply and Mailroom Section consists of three full-time employees and one temporary employee. This section maintains approximately $900,000-worth of inventory to include weapons, body armor, and radio gear, along with other equipment and supplies needed by the agents. The section also maintains a record on equipment issued, returned, lost and stolen.

The mailroom processes and sends out approximately 3,000 pieces of mail weekly, including inter-office mail throughout the state. It also provides a courier service.

During FY'04 this section worked closely with Investigative Staff Services on the following special details:

• Issued new gas masks and accessories to all GBI agents during in-service training at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center .
• Received and prepared equipment to be issued for the G-8 Summit on Sea Island .
• Issued mass fatality and clandestine lab equipment to designated agents.
• Inventoried and transferred out-dated body armor to a police academy for training purposes.

Fleet & Asset

The Fleet and Asset Section manages the GBI's fleet of more that 500 vehicles and GBI assets totally nearly 5,000 items valued in excess of $32 million.

The section managed and supported GBI staff in the use of the Fleet Anywhere software. Fleet Anywhere provides GBI staff with information regarding status of the fleet. Reports on current and projected use of vehicles have proven invaluable in the preparation of strategic budget planning.

Other services provided by this section includ accident reporting and the management of the surplus property program, commercial fuel cards and undercover commercial accounts. 

Other Support Services

Staff Services is responsible for:

• The administration of the Headquarters' security personnel and maintenance contracts
• Telecommunications management
• Risk management
• Security and access management
• Contract administration.