FY09 Recovery Act Justice Assistance Grant for Carbon County

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.

The disparate jurisdictions consisting of Carbon County and the cities of Rawlins and Saratoga will use their Recovery Act JAG award in the amount of $83,451 to purchase law enforcement equipment. The city of Rawlins, serving as the fiscal agent for this award, will use its share of the grant ($70,740) to replace the Rawlins Police Department's antiquated surveillance system. This will allow them to maintain officer safety and gather evidence in vandalism or other on-site crimes. They will also update the WYO-LINK communications system, which is used by several Wyoming law enforcement agencies. The city of Saratoga will use its share of the grant ($12,711) to purchase a laptop for a School Resource Officer for use in tracking students' progress in student training programs that are proven to reduce violence and drug use and reinforce conflict resolution. Saratoga will also purchase computer equipment for dispatching and reporting incidents.

Per the Memorandum of Understanding, Carbon County will not receive any of the Recovery Act JAG funds, but will remain a partner in the award.

NCA/NCF