County awarded two rural law enforcement grants

County awarded two rural law enforcement grants News Staff Tue, 03/12/2024 - 1:53 pm

• (TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) At their meeting Monday, March 11, the Young County Commissioners Court ratified two grant agreements from Senate Bill 22, which provide financial aid to eligible sheriff and prosecutors offices throughout rural counties in the state.

TC Gordon editor@grahamleader.com

Young County will be receiving financial assistance for the Young County Sheriff’s Office and prosecuting attorneys office with grant agreements from Senate Bill 22. The county also approved the creation of a new full-time position in the county attorney’s office.

At commissioners court Monday, March 11, County Judge Win Graham presented the grant agreements from SB 22 for the Rural Law Enforcement Salary Assistance Program and the Rural Prosecutor’s Office Salary Assistance Program for ratification by the commissioners.

According to the Texas Comptroller website, “Senate Bill (SB) 22 establishes a grant program that will provide financial assistance to sheriff’s departments, constable’s offices and district and county attorney’s offices in eligible counties to ensure professional law enforcement and legal representation of the people’s interests throughout the state.”

With Young County’s population over 10,000 but less than 50,000, the county will receive $350,000 to aid in the improvement of YCSO.

Grant funds awarded shall be used to provide a minimum annual salary of at least $75,000 for the county sheriff, $45,000 for each deputy who makes motor vehicle stops in the routine performance of their duties and $40,000 for each jailer whose duties include the safekeeping of prisoners and the security of a jail operated by the county.

The funding can additionally be used to increase the salary of those employed in one of those three positions, to hire additional staff for the sheriff’s office or to purchase vehicles, firearms and safety equipment for the sheriff’s office.

“There’s a lot of leeway in how to spend the sheriff’s allocation and in the sheriff’s allocation… the plan actually will be the commissioners court’s plan,” Graham said. “But the sheriff and I have been working on a proposal that we plan on presenting to the court at our next meeting.”

For the prosecutors offices, the same population qualifications apply and the district attorney’s office and county attorney’s office will each receive $175,000 to be used specifically to “increase the salary of an assistant attorney, an investigator or a victim assistance coordinator employed at the office; or hire additional staff for the office.”

The district attorney’s office hasn’t finalized any plans for what they wish to do with the grant money, but County Attorney Chris Baran submitted his plan for the utilization of the financial aid.

The primary use of the county attorney’s SB 22 funds will be for the creation of a full-time secretary position in the office. In addition to that cost, the attorney’s office would use money for stipends for the new secretary as well as for the chief assistant.

In total, the county attorney’s office would use approximately $92,287 of their $175,000, which would leave $82,713 to be spent on possible positions such as an interpreter, a courthouse security person/bailiff or a court reporter.

“It’s very limited to what you can spend it on (for prosecutors). It’s pretty much just salaries. It’s new positions and salaries. No equipment, nothing for courthouse security, nothing, no tools to help. It’s just people,” Graham said.

A county can submit only one application for the SB 22 grant each fiscal year, but Graham shared that these funds will be available each year moving forward, as this first agreement was approved for two years.

“Every indication we’ve received is that it’s going to be there year after year after year,” Graham said. “... There is a way— the way they put it in the budget it’s like an evergreen, it’ll always be there.”

The county has yet to receive the actual funds but they are supposed to be sent out by the end of March. The county ratified the agreements and will soon present their plans as to how each affected department will use the funding.

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