FY 2009 Recovery Act JAG Grant

This grant program is authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5) (the 'Recovery Act') and by 42 U.S.C. 3751(a). The stated purposes of the Recovery Act are: to preserve and create jobs and promote economic recovery; to assist those most impacted by the recession; to provide investments needed to increase economic efficiency by spurring technological advances in science and health; to invest in transportation, environmental protection, and other infrastructure that will provide long-term economic benefits; and to stabilize state and local government budgets, in order to minimize and avoid reductions in essential services and counterproductive state and local tax increases. The Recovery Act places great emphasis on accountability and transparency in the use of taxpayer dollars.

Among other things, it creates a new Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board and a new website ' Recovery.gov ' to provide information to the public, including access to detailed information on grants and contracts made with Recovery Act funds.

The Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program funded under the Recovery Act is the primary provider of federal criminal justice funding to state and local jurisdictions. Recovery JAG funds support all components of the criminal justice system, from multi-jurisdictional drug and gang task forces to crime prevention and domestic violence programs, courts, corrections, treatment, and justice information sharing initiatives. Recovery JAG funded projects may address crime through the provision of services directly to individuals and/or communities and by improving the effectiveness and efficiency of criminal justice systems, processes, and procedures.

Butler County was selected as the fiscal agent for the disparate jurisdictions of Butler County; the cities of Hamilton, Fairfield, Middletown, Monroe, and Oxford; and the townships of Fairfield, Lemon, and West Chester on the Fiscal Year 2009 Recovery Act JAG award in the amount of $936,868. All jurisdictions will use funding for law enforcement programs. The Butler County Sheriff's Office plans to purchase and upgrade law enforcement equipment and technology to enhance officer and community safety. Technological and computer upgrades will also be made to the prison intake division and the command/incident vehicle post. The Hamilton Police Department will use its allocation to offset the salaries and benefits of four police officers, scheduled for lay-offs in March 2009. The Fairfield Police Department will purchase law enforcement equipment to enhance police officer and community safety by arming and training officers with patrol rifles and provide additional technology to investigative staff. The Middletown Division of Police and the Oxford Division of Police plan to purchase license plate readers and software for marked cruisers, which will allow officers to utilize patrol time more effectively and assist with searches for stolen vehicles and wanted subjects. The Monroe Police Department and Lemon Township will purchase computers, crash investigation and traffic control equipment, and a GPS locator system for cruisers to make the streets safer, better monitor traffic, reduce crashes, and motivate officers. The Fairfield Township Police Department will use funding to upgrade in-car computers and building security. The township of West Chester Police Department will purchase a field reporting system that will enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the department.

NCA/NCF