Commissioners Court Meeting

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Meeting Date:	01/22/2018
HIDTA Task Force Continuation of Salary & Fringe Benefits
Submitted for:	Martin Cuellar	Submitted By:	Anita Guerra
Department:	Sheriff

Subject:

Discussion and possible action to continue paying grant funded personnel under the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force Agreement, Narcotics Task Force, for Ninety (90) days, until notification about grant continuation award from the U.S. Department of Justice. The Grantee (City of Laredo Police Department) has informed the Sheriff's Office that the grant will continue and is pending the official award letter from HITDA officials. This grant has been active for the past 25 years and is anticipated to continue throughout 2018. [Fund #2906] [Requested by Martin Cuellar, Webb County Sheriff]

Issue: HIDTA is a multi-agency task force that continues to gather intelligence and disrupts the illicit flow of narcotics and money laundering activities along the South Texas Border region. South Texas HITDA is an alliance of over 57 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies working together to combat drug trafficking and related crimes. Historically the Grantor has always submitted award letters to local law enforcement agencies between the months of February and March; Nonetheless, the grants are retroactive to January 1st of each calendar year.

Solution: For the Webb County Sheriff's Office to continue supporting HIDTA by employing grant funded investigators and continue corroborating with other law enforcement agencies to push forward the mission and goals of the South Texas HIDTA task force.

Result: The Webb County Sheriff's Office will continue to employ two (2) HIDTA funded investigators who will actively participate and help the task force fight against the continued flow of illicit drugs and related crime within the South Texas region.

Background:

HITDA is a multi-agency task force that continues to gather intelligence and disrupts the illicit flow of narcotics and money laundering activities along the South Texas Border region. South Texas HITDA is an alliance of over 57 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies working together to combat drug trafficking and related crimes. The Webb County Sheriff's Office is recommending approval to continue supporting HITDA by employing grant funded investigators and continue corroborating with other law enforcement agencies to push forward the mission and goals of the South Texas HITDA task force.

When official award letter is received by the Sheriff's Office, another agenda item will be submitted to secure acceptance of grant award by Commissioners Court.

Previous Court Action:

A similar agenda item was approved for the Webb County Sheriff's Office on 01/09/2017 and for the District Attorneys' Office on 01/08/2018.

Fiscal Impact

Budget Account Number:	2906
Funding Source:	Federal agreement
Balance:	Not Applicable
Financial Impact:
No impact to the Webb County's General Fund.