After the State Law Enforcement Division's was chopped from $37 million to some $32 million by state budget cutting, the group's director has announced they'll be taking the usual cost-cutting measure (hiring freezes, less expenditures, etc.) as well as focusing on fewer "frivolous" cases.

The motivation for that statement? Apparently the state's premier investigative agency had spent months on a garden gnome-napping. The State writes:
Before Lloyd took over in March, the state’s main investigative agency spent months on a case involving Lexington County Magistrate Jamie Lucas, who was accused of stealing a 2-foot-tall yard statue from his sister-in-law’s home.

The investigation was so involved that wiretaps were used at one point. But all charges against Lucas eventually were dropped.

Certainly not the best use of money.