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Sheriff's office receives tobacco, child support and crisis intervention funding approvals
Summary
Commissioners approved three sheriff department agreements: a $25,000 tobacco compliance grant, an $834,968 child support cooperative reimbursement grant (federal and county shares) and a $36,182 regional crisis intervention training MOU.
The St. Mary—ounty commissioners on Sept. 23 approved three fiscal-year 2026 agreements and related budget amendments for the Sheriff's Office.
The board approved an agreement with the St. Mary's County Health Department that awards the Sheriff's Office $25,000 for tobacco sale compliance checks aimed at preventing sales to people under 21. Presenters said the grant is revenue-only and will offset enforcement-related costs; commissioners approved a $5,000 budget amendment to increase the grant budget from the amount included in the FY2026 budget.
Commissioners also approved a cooperative reimbursement agreement to support the county child support unit. The FY2026 agreement totals $834,968, including $519,536 federal funds and $315,432 in county funds. Presenters said the grant will reimburse roughly 62% of salary, overtime, fringe and other operating costs tied to child support enforcement. Staff noted grant funding in the approved budget exceeded the grant award because of personnel changes; a budget amendment was approved to realign county funding and grant lines.
Finally, the commission approved a memorandum of understanding with the Charles County Department of Health to fund regional crisis intervention team training. The tri-county training program will provide de-escalation and crisis-response training to patrol officers and corrections staff; the FY2026 allocation is $36,182, $11,182 more than the amount expected in the sheriff's FY2026 budget. Presenters said about 70% of patrol officers currently have crisis intervention training and the MOU supports recurring regional sessions.
Each item passed by voice vote. Commissioners asked about program results and enforcement effectiveness for tobacco checks, workload and enforcement approaches for the child support unit, and how crisis intervention training is dispatched and integrated with 911 responses. Sheriff's Office presenters said most mental health crisis responses originate through 911 and that the goal of the training is to de-escalate incidents before they require hospitalization or tactical responses.
