Sheriff’s office to apply for DOJ COPS grant; committee approves related budget amendments

Rutherford County’s Public Safety Committee voted May 20 to approve the sheriff’s request to apply for a Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant and also approved several budget amendments for the sheriff’s office.

A county representative told the committee the grant would be a three-year award requiring a 25 percent local match if awarded; the county is looking to request about $800,000 to hire deputies focused on traffic safety, education and enforcement. The requester said the 25 percent match would likely come from the county’s general fund balance.

Separately, the committee approved two budget amendments for the sheriff’s office that reallocated revenue and sales proceeds to the motor-vehicle line (about $92,696) and to a law-enforcement equipment line (about $33,000). Each amendment was brought forward by the sheriff’s representative and passed following motions and roll-call votes.

The sheriff’s report at the meeting also noted jail population numbers and staffing vacancies: the presenter said the inmate population was 1,005–1,006 for the day and that detention had 22 open positions with some hires scheduled in late May and June.

The sheriff’s request to apply for the DOJ COPS grant passed on a committee voice vote and roll call. Committee members asked how the match would be funded and were told it would come from fund balance if needed. No final grant award was available at the meeting; the item approved only the application.

The committee’s approval allows staff to submit the grant application and to process the approved internal budget reallocations; any hiring tied to the grant would require future appropriation if the award is received.