Sheriff's Office seeks $12,772 state grant to support offender registry compliance; commissioners approve application

The St. Mary's County Commissioners on May 20 approved submission of a FY2026 Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention (GOCCP) offender compliance and enforcement grant application on behalf of the Sheriff's Office.

Captain Sarah Smith, administrative captain with the Sheriff's Office, told the board the recurring grant is expected to total $12,772 and requires no county match. She said the funding pays just over 20% of the salary for an administrative position that supports the county's offender registry unit.

When asked about the size of the registry, Captain Smith said there are currently 127 registered offenders in St. Mary's County. She described the unit's compliance detective role: if the office receives information that a registered person has moved in or is otherwise noncompliant, the unit investigates and may open a criminal case for noncompliance with registration requirements.

The commissioners voted to approve the grant application and authorized the commissioner president and sheriff to execute related documents and for staff to submit the application electronically.

Why it matters: the grant helps offset personnel costs for management of the offender registry, which county staff said is an active compliance and enforcement duty. The funding supports ongoing monitoring and investigative follow-up when noncompliance is reported.

Next steps: the Sheriff's Office will submit the application to GOCCP and, if awarded, will apply funds to the administrative support position cited in the request.