Recovery Act JAG Program

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.

Crawford County and Pittsburg City, as disparate jurisdictions, will share the Recovery Act JAG award in the amount of $102,930. Crawford County, serving as the fiscal agent for the grant award, and Pittsburg City will use grant funds to purchase equipment for the Crawford County Drug Task Force. The equipment allocated to this anti-drug initiative will be utilized by the primary assigned law enforcement officer from the Pittsburg Police Department and by those additional law enforcement officers supporting the operational activities of the Crawford County Drug Task Force related to illegal drug trafficking. In addition, the Crawford County Sheriff's Office will purchase automatic defibrillators, a digital video security system for the sheriff's office, and dual weapon locks for emergency vehicles.

NCA/NCF