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Meeting Date:	03/22/2021
Letter of Intent to Submit a Grant
Submitted for:	Cornell Mickley	Submitted By:	Cornell Mickley
Department:	Pre-Trial Services

Subject:

Discussion and possible action to authorize the Economic Development Department to submit a fiscal year 2022, multi-year grant application to the Texas Commission on Indigent Defense. The purpose of the grant is to request funding for staff and the possibility to purchase video-conferencing software and devices for the weekend magistrate process concerning the appointment of attorneys to indigent offenders that qualify. The necessary documents have been submitted for review to the Economic Development Department and the solicitation is compliant with the Webb County Single Point of Contact (SPOC) procedures. Webb County must provide a cash match 20% of the total project costs in the first funding year, 40% the second year, 60% the third funding year and 80% the fourth funding year.

Issue: Webb County has implemented a weekend magistrate process at our jail. The Pre-Trial Services Department has been delegated to take charge of the manpower needed to support the appointment of attorneys to indigent offenders that qualify at the front-end of the magistrate process during the weekend. This hinders our limited staff to provide effective, efficient and adequate services to indigent clients, the Courts and our office during our normal regular business hours of operation.

Solution: The acquisition of the grant funds will offset the Webb County personnel expenses for a period of four years and will provide adequate staffing for the weekend and our normal hour of operations. This will also eliminate Pre-Trial Services employees from earning accrued comp-time hours, that the county pays out, if an employee resigns.

Result: Webb County is required to be in compliance with all local and state legislative mandates concerning indigent defense in order to continue to receive the Formula Grant Funding.

Background:

The Texas Indigent Defense Commission provides financial and technical support to counties to develop and maintain quality, cost-effective indigent defense systems that meet the needs of the county and the requirements of the Constitution and state law. The Commission may provide Improvement Grants for any programs, such as the weekend magistrate process that improves the provision of indigent defense services.

Previous Court Action:

None

Fiscal Impact

Budget Account Number:	N/A
Funding Source:	Grant
Balance:	N/A
Financial Impact:
Webb County must provide a cash match 20% of the total project costs in the first funding year, 40% the second year, 60% the third funding year and 80% the fourth funding year. The potential salary cost for the additional part-time employee is $13,000.00. Additional costs may incur, once Webb County has a project cost for any computer/video conferencing devices.

Attachments
Letter of Intent to apply for a grant