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Council authorizes application for $500,000 DOJ victims grant; Parker abstains over routing-form question
Summary
The Council authorized the mayor to apply for a FY2026 Office for Victims of Crime grant of $500,000 (no local match) to fund contracted victim advocates; Councilmember Parker abstained after asking why a routing form indicated a match was budgeted.
The Knoxville City Council authorized the mayor to apply for and accept a Fiscal Year 2026 Office for Victims of Crime grant from the U.S. Department of Justice in the amount of $500,000. The grant requires no local match.
Councilmember Parker asked for clarification because the grant routing form referenced a budgeted match; staff confirmed that no match is required. City staff said the grant request would seek funding to contract for victim advocate positions — two advocates were discussed in the meeting record: one to work with the overdose death task force and one to support the violent crimes unit. The city indicated these would likely be contracted positions rather than new city hires and that the grant term would be three years if awarded.
After the clarification, Parker announced she would abstain from the vote to reflect outstanding questions in her review of the routing form. The Council adopted the authorization by voice vote; the meeting record shows the measure carried 7–0 with one abstention.
