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.

Navajo County is serving as the fiscal agent for the disparate application including the incorporated town of Snowflake and the incorporated cities of Holbrook, Show Low, and Winslow for the Fiscal Year 2009 Recovery Act JAG award. Under the memorandum of understanding, all entities agreed that Navajo County will use the Recovery Act JAG grant for paying salary and fringe benefits in order to retain the Criminal Analyst/Investigator position within the County Attorney's office. The Criminal Analyst/Investigator will collect and analyze data on a county-wide basis, make links between suspects and their confederates, help guide the use of confidential informants, and coordinate the investigative activities of the various law enforcement agencies within the county. In doing so, the investigator will address the problem of a lack of a central depository for criminal case information to be collected, stored, analyzed, and shared. Navajo County anticipates that the available funding will pay for the salary and fringe benefits of this position for 41 months. Navajo County will also take 0.59 percent of their total award for administrative costs.

NCA/NCF