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Belknap County Sheriff seeks state highway-safety overtime grant and may pre-authorize bulletproof vest application
Summary
Sheriff Wright asked commissioners for approval to apply for a FY2026 New Hampshire Highway Safety overtime grant, discussed a matched equipment purchase and asked for pre-authorization to apply quickly for a bulletproof vest grant if it opens.
Sheriff Wright told the Belknap County Board of Commissioners that New Hampshire Highway Safety offered an overtime grant of $14,700 for FY2026 and asked the board for permission to apply.
The sheriff said overtime funded by the grant would be used for traffic-safety enforcement and that the grant includes a 75/25 match for equipment purchases; he proposed applying for a ProLaser 4 LIDAR unit priced at $2,950 with a county match of $737.50. He told the board he could cover the equipment match from the drug forfeiture fund if necessary.
“If we get the $2,900 piece of equipment for, you know, just over $700,” the sheriff said, “...we get the equipment with a manageable local share.” He told commissioners the overtime portion is fully for overtime pay, and that part-time officers could be included at straight-time for some shifts.
The board voted on a motion to approve the grant application for the hour/overtime program; the motion carried. Commissioners and staff also discussed a separate, short-window federal grant program for bulletproof vests (a 50/50 reimbursement). The sheriff said he would request funding for 10 vests at about $689 each — roughly $7,000 total with a 50% reimbursement — and asked whether the board wanted him to seek pre-authorization to apply electronically if the federal program opens on short notice.
A motion to pre-authorize acceptance if the bulletproof-vest grant becomes available was moved during the meeting; the transcript records the motion being made and discussed. The sheriff noted the federal site’s posting and submission windows can be brief and said he did not want the county to miss matching funds.
Why it matters: The overtime grant would subsidize enhanced traffic-safety patrols, and equipment purchases could improve enforcement accuracy; the vest grant would offset body-armor replacement costs but requires either available budget cash or use of a county grant-match account when applications open.
Commissioners asked about how overtime is paid relative to the officers’ normal schedules. The sheriff clarified overtime would be scheduled and paid at overtime rates even when an officer has not yet reached a 40-hour threshold that week. He also identified the county’s “potential grant matches” account as one place to cover upfront costs for small federal grants that require reimbursement.
