Polk County group approves submitting formula and competitive grant applications to fund corrections and probation staff

Polk County meeting participants voted to approve submitting a state formula grant application and a related competitive grant application that, as budgeted, would fund salary and benefits for two staff positions: increasing a jail mental-health position to 1.5 full-time equivalents (FTE) and adding funding for an adult probation officer to supervise downward-departure caseloads, county staff said.

County staff explained the meeting was to record the committee’s support for both the formula grant budget and the competitive application and its budget. Staff said the requested budgets cover only salary and benefits for the positions; no other program costs were included in the submission.

Jody, a county staff member who presented the item, said the county had already submitted a preliminary application and received a letter of support for that application. She said the committee needs to record approval in the minutes and to indicate “yes” in the online application interface (there is no separate upload field for a letter of support). Jody said the competitive-grant timeline is not finalized but that the county expects more information in August or September, and that the victims-services budget will be requested only after formula and competitive awards are known so total allocations to victims can be determined.

A participant suggested using a roll-call vote because the meeting was held by Zoom. A motion to approve submission of both the formula grant budget and the competitive application was made and seconded by Commissioner Lyle. No participants voiced opposition during the meeting; staff reported no recorded objections.

Allison and representatives from Sable House were identified as parties to be notified about next steps; staff said they would send email updates to ensure the application and related communications reach the right people. Staff said no additional documents were required from the committee at the time of the vote.

Next steps identified in the meeting: staff will mark the application approval in the online system, send follow-up emails to Allison’s group and Sable House, and await a likely August–September update on the competitive-grant review. The county did not provide firm award dates or dollar amounts at the meeting.