FY 2009 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.

Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government will use their Fiscal Year 2009 Recovery Act JAG award in the amount of $5,030,037 to purchase approximately 146 patrol vehicles for the Louisville Metro Police, create an electronic subpoena/court notification system, and create a day reporting center/compliance center. Patrol vehicles will be used to replace in-service vehicles with mileage exceeding 100,000. The new vehicles will reduce the amount of time a vehicle is in the garage for repairs. This will keep the officers on the street, increase their visible presence, and help reduce crime. The subpoena system will replace the current antiquated paper system used by the court with a more accurate and efficient electronic system. This new subpoena system will result in fewer court continuances and cases dismissed due to witnesses not being present. This will result in fewer appearances required by participants (witnesses, victims, and police) which will translate into potentially fewer work days missed, decreased child care costs to attend court proceedings, and reduced costs associated with attending court.

Metro Corrections will develop and implement a case management/accountability technology and a new Day Reporting Center (DRC) for Louisville Metro. The DRC will be located on Metro Government property about 1.5 miles from the courthouse complex and individuals referred to the center will receive an assessment (depth of assessment based upon need/court referral) and potential services and/or treatment options will be discussed. The goal of this portion of the project is to incorporate better court processes, monitoring and accountability, and more community alternatives to enable individuals to fulfill court-ordered responsibilities in a manner that allows them to maintain jobs, keep family obligations, and retain civic/community connections.

NCA/NCF