Greene County authorizes TCAT and CCA grant applications; approves pre-award for ACE task force JAG funding

The Greene County Board of Commissioners on May 8 authorized county staff to apply for multiple criminal-justice grants aimed at alternatives to incarceration and supervision, and approved pre-award paperwork for a 2024 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) to support the ACE task force.

Commissioners approved a motion to accept the required pre-award conditions for the 2024 JAG grant covering the ACE task force and authorized the president to sign the document that permits the county to complete the JAG application and, if awarded, accept funding that would cover cell-phone service, internet and portions of staff salaries.

The board then voted to grant the adult probation department permission to apply for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction's Targeted Community Alternatives to Prison (TCAT) grant for the FY 2026'FY 2027 state fiscal year and to pursue the Community Corrections Act (CCA) intensive supervision grant for the same period.

County staff described earlier results from TCAT funding, saying that, so far, "what we've done is just avoided sending felony fives to prison," and that the county has placed more people on community control with support and monitoring from adult probation and the courts. Staff noted the county has not yet compiled comprehensive recidivism metrics but said the Local Corrections Planning Board has begun collecting data and has hired an "interview probation officer" to improve intake information and supervision planning.

Staff also reported that some law-enforcement partners, including the sheriff (who addressed the board outside the grant presentation), have pressed for assurances that the county will not use community-control grants to avoid jail time for defendants whom officers and judges deem to require incarceration. "He's asking questions about, you know, making sure that the appropriate folks that need to spend some time in jail are actually spending time in jail and not being on community control," staff said during the transfer discussion that preceded the application vote.

Commissioners approved the three authorizations; no funding awards were made at the May 8 meeting. The board recorded motions and votes to authorize application submission; awards, program rules and performance reporting would be determined if and when grants are awarded.