PHOENIX (AP) -- Attorney General Terry Goddard said Tuesday his office is laying off 20 workers, apparently the first such cuts by a state agency in response to Arizona's worsening budget crisis.

Goddard said he was taking steps "to economize in every possible way" and that the layoffs include attorneys, investigators and support staff.

The state faces a projected $1.2 billion shortfall in the $9.9 billion budget for the current fiscal year, now half over. The shortfall, largely due to the recession's hit on state tax collections, is expected to rise.

The budget crisis is expected to dominate the 2009 legislative session, which begins Monday, and lawmakers have promised decisive, early action. Some have said layoffs and furloughs - periodic unpaid days off - may be needed.

Goddard's office is budgeted for nearly 650 full-time equivalent positions, but Goddard spokeswoman Anne Hilby said only 526 full-time equivalent positions were filled. That means the layoffs represent about 4 percent of the office's current staff.

Most of state government has been under a hiring freeze since last spring.

Hilby said the last day for workers being laid off, roughly half of whom are attorneys, will be Jan. 16. The state is not allowed to provide severance packages because that would be a gift of public money, she said.

The Attorney General's Office, formally known as the Department of Law, represents the state in criminal prosecutions and appeals and represents state agencies and officials in civil matters.

"Making these cuts now will maximize savings in the current fiscal year," Goddard said in a statement. "I am striving to provide maximum protection for Arizonans at minimum cost, recognizing that in time of economic downturn the services of the Attorney General's Office in fraud prevention, criminal prosecution and collections are needed more than ever."

Because the attorney general is an office established under the Arizona Constitution, the office is not among executive-branch agencies that fall under the direction of Gov. Janet Napolitano.

Napolitano spokeswoman Jeanine L'Ecuyer said Napolitano was not consulted about the layoffs, and L'Ecuyer and Department of Administration spokesman Alan Ecker said they were unaware of any other layoffs.

However, presidents of at least two of the universities, which are not part of main personnel system, have already announced that staff reductions are planned or likely, particularly in part-time faculty positions.

Napolitano ordered a hiring freeze last spring while exempting some functions and positions she deemed critical. She did not have the power to order it for agencies not under her control but asked other officers and the Board of Regents to also implement freezes.

Napolitano "has always said that some sort of employment action ... certainly was on the table and could happen." L'Ecuyer said when asked about the prospect of layoffs.

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Attorney General's Office: http://www.azag.gov/

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