Public Safety Committee recommends acceptance of two DOJ grants for sheriff’s task force work

The Marathon County Public Safety Committee voted to recommend acceptance and forwarding to HR Finance & Property of two grants described by Sheriff Phillip and Captain Stefanik. Captain Stefanik said the noncompetitive JAG Drug Task Force award applied for was $44,446 and that the county has been receiving similar awards historically. He said the sheriff's office also applied for a competitive Law Enforcement Drug Trafficking Response grant to fund expanded digital‑evidence storage and processing capacity.

Administrator Leonard advised the committee that HR Finance & Property review is required before the full county board acts on budget amendments and that staff recommend forwarding the items for consideration; the competitive grant would prompt a budget amendment only if and when the award is made. Committee members asked whether the committee should split votes; Supervisor Opel moved and Supervisor Hoffa seconded a motion to recommend both grant items, with the competitive award contingent on actual award. The committee approved the motion by voice vote.

Captain Stefanik described the trafficking‑response request as intended to fund multiple large hard drives and six computers to process large digital evidence files, noting that digital storage demands in investigations are growing. The competitive trafficking‑response grant application remains under review, and staff said they would only amend the county budget if an award is received.

Next steps: staff will forward the committee recommendation to HR Finance & Property for their review and then to the full county board if appropriate. If the competitive grant is awarded, staff will return with a budget‑amendment recommendation.