COLUMBIA, S.C. - State law enforcement agencies will sell one airplane and one helicopter and consolidate their air fleet to help cut costs and improve efficiency, Gov. Mark Sanford said Friday.

The state Commerce Department also will sell its fractional ownership in a jet that was used only 43 hours last year. Sanford said the agency can charter flights in the future.

The sales will net the state $1 million and will result in an annual savings of $120,000, the governor said.

The State Law Enforcement Division and Departments of Natural Resources and Public Safety then will own six aircraft between them.

SLED will transfer its 1984 Cessna 210 plane to DNR, and DNR will transfer its 1987 McDonnell Douglas 500E helicopter to SLED.

By consolidating the air fleet, there will be some shifting of duties between the agencies.

Traditional helicopter missions such as search and rescues, which were conducted mostly by DNR officers, now will be the duty of SLED officers. Traditional airplane missions once handled by SLED such as surveillance and extradition flights will be the responsibility of Natural Resources.

DNR pilots already are trained for these duties and SLED officers have been training with the Coast Guard on search and rescue, said SLED Chief Robert Stewart.

"By eliminating duplication of efforts and pooling resources, the state can dispose of these two aircraft and yet maintain the level - and even improve the level - of service that is needed for the police and the citizens across the state," Stewart said.

The governor also urged the state's research universities to combine their air fleet. A report last month from the Gov.'s Commission on Management, Accountability and Performance said the state could save about $600,000 annually if the University of South Carolina and Clemson University traded in their total of four old aircraft for two newer aircraft. The report also recommended USC move its planes to the state-owned aeronautics facility at the Columbia airport.

University officials said they would need to review a proposal before making any decisions on the sale of aircraft. The universities use the planes to transport coaches, researchers and administrators to speeches and conferences.

"We do work and collaborate with other research universities in a lot of ways, so we'd certainly be open to looking at it," said Clemson spokeswoman Robin Denny.

USC supports any cost-saving measure, but would have to review whether such a move would allow school officials to have the same flexibility and availability, said USC spokesman Russ McKinney.

Sanford noted that the sales will not solve the state's budget problems - South Carolina faces a $350 million budget gap - but are a step forward.

"Today is all about trying to watch out for the taxpayer," Sanford said. "Any place of redundancy that we can find in state government, is frankly, an area that we want to cancel out given the budget situation that we face this year ... and over the next couple of years."