"There has been no shortage of bills to help expand the population at the prison," Eaton said. "But there have been zero bills to counteract that."

Litigation needs

Without being asked, lawmakers gave the state attorney general's office $420,000 in October 2006 to prosecute a capital murder charge against Michael Addison, days after he was charged with killing a Manchester police officer. Since then, the office has indicted a second death penalty case, this one against John "Jay" Brooks of Manchester.

For the first time, Attorney General Kelly Ayotte will ask for additional money to prosecute those cases. She is seeking $482,833 to handle those cases. Meanwhile, she's spent about $270,700 of the initial amount given her office.

Ayotte also wants an additional $200,000 to handle the office's other litigation needs. Smith said the request was a consequence of the budgeting process.

In her budget request, Ayotte asked for $650,000 for litigation. Gov. John Lynch recommended that amount be cut to $350,000, Smith said. The House looked at previous budgets, saw that the office typically spends $650,000 on litigation and recommended Ayotte get what she requested. The Senate, however, recommended the $350,000 figure, and in the end, that is what Ayotte got, Smith said.

The request would restore the litigation budget to close to what Ayotte requested.

Judicial Council

The state Judicial Council, which ensures that indigent defendants get lawyers, is in a similar situation, Smith said. Executive Director Nina Gardner will ask for $285,000, which is close to the amount lawmakers cut from her request during budget negotiations.

None of that money would be used to defend Addison because Gardner's budget already includes nearly $530,000 for the case.

Brooks, the other person facing a capital murder charge, has hired his own attorneys. Some of Gardner's request is necessary to defend Brooks's co-defendants and defendants in other high-profile murder cases brought by the attorney general's office, she said.

The money would pay for lawyers and other related fees, such as investigations and mental health exams for indigent clients, she said.

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