Investigators who enforce state liquor laws are preparing to resume regular patrols through the thousands of bars and stores in Orange County after being hobbled by state budget cuts in 1991, officials said recently.

Alcoholic Beverage Control investigators in Orange County and elsewhere in the state were shifted from nearly all policing activities to licensing last March to handle an increasing backlog of applications for liquor licenses.

But a state law that went into effect Jan. 1 restores much of the agency's money, allowing officials to hire more people to handle the paperwork backlog and enforcement duties.

"It's going to be a gradual thing, it's not going to be all of a sudden, but we're going to be building up" to regular patrols and increased office staffing, said Dale Rasmussen, agency chief in Orange County, home to about 5,000 bars, restaurants and dance halls.

Rasmussen said he hopes that by March he will have 10 investigators, led by two supervisors, for enforcement, and nine office employees dedicated to full-time processing and investigating of liquor license applications.

ABC agents, who carry handguns and handcuffs, have enforced liquor laws during the budget crunch but usually just when the incidents were of a serious nature.

Problems began for the agency in the fall of 1991 when Gov. Pete Wilson, trying to balance the state budget, cut nearly $5 million from the agency's $23-million annual funding. The agency contemplated layoffs, but so many agents left voluntarily that layoffs were not necessary, officials said.

But the beverage control agency continues to suffer from the loss of those experienced investigators.

"That was our brain trust," Ed Mimiaga, an investigation supervisor in Santa Ana, said of the loss of good agents and the effect on the agency.

Even as the ABC rebuilds, it will remain a downsized agency, officials said. Orange County will have three fewer agents than it did before the budget crisis; statewide there will be about 50 fewer investigators.

The state will hire fewer agents because of a new classification for licensing representatives, who will help relieve investigators of some routine paperwork.

Field investigators who hit the streets again will have a mountain of work ahead of them.