Whereas, in order for the State to combat the serious problem of child pornography and the related crime of child sexual abuse through the seizure and forensic evaluation of computers, more state resources must be dedicated for that purpose; and

Whereas, in order for the Department of Public Safety to be able to hire new forensic examiners for the full fiscal year to aggressively address the proliferation of child pornography, resources for that purpose must be appropriated immediately; and

Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, therefore,

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:

Sec. 1. 25 MRSA c. 192-A, as amended, is repealed.

Sec. 2. Appropriations and allocations. The following appropriations and allocations are made.

PUBLIC SAFETY, DEPARTMENT OF

State Police 0291

Initiative: Appropriates funds for the creation of a computer crimes unit within the State Police program by establishing 2 Computer Crimes Forensic Analyst positions with necessary operational costs for the unit.

GENERAL FUND 2005-06 2006-07

POSITIONS - LEGISLATIVE COUNT 0.000 2.000

Personal Services $0 $60,237

All Other $0 $50,948

________ ________

GENERAL FUND TOTAL $0 $111,185

HIGHWAY FUND 2005-06 2006-07

Personal Services $0 $102,563

All Other $0 $86,750

__________ __________

HIGHWAY FUND TOTAL $0 $189,313