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Meeting Date:	01/25/2021
FY 2020 SCAAP Grant Application Submission by Webb Co. Sheriff's Office
Submitted for:	Martin Cuellar	Submitted By:	Anita Guerra
Department:	Sheriff

Subject:

Discussion and possible action to authorize the submission of a grant application completed and submitted by the Webb County Sheriff’s Office to the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) for a State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) grant for reimbursement of costs already incurred for the incarceration of undocumented criminal aliens at the Webb County jail; and authorizing the Webb County Judge to execute all relevant documents; and any other matters incident thereto. This grant does not require any cash match; and, in fact, is a reimbursement of costs already incurred. All required documents were sent for review through the Economic Development Department and the solicitation is compliant with the Webb County Single Point of Contact (SPOC) procedures. [Requested by Martin Cuellar, Webb County Sheriff]

Issue: Although immigration matters, including illegal immigration, are constitutionally established as existing under the legal jurisdiction and regulation of the federal government, state prisons and local detention facilities, such as the Webb County jail, incurs significant costs incarcerating undocumented foreign aliens who commit crimes in the United States. This includes but is not limited to supervision, housing, feeding, clothing, any medical and transportation expenses, and other associated detention costs.

Solution: Grant application to obtain reimbursement of a small percentage of the incurred correctional officer salary costs associated with detaining undocumented criminal aliens who had at least one felony or two misdemeanor convictions for violations of state or local law and who were incarcerated at the Webb County jail for at least four (4) consecutive days during the reporting period of July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020.

Result: Webb County will be reimbursed by the federal government a limited percentage of the amount of its already incurred costs of detained foreign criminals incarcerated at the Webb County jail.

Background:

The reimbursement of eligible costs are determined as follows:
1. DHS review of “inmate records.” All “complete” inmate records submitted in timely applications from eligible applicants are forwarded by OJP to DHS promptly after the application deadline.
2. DHS conducts a detailed data review that focuses on determining whether each individual identified in an “inmate record” in fact was “undocumented” – or was instead a U.S. citizen (or national) or otherwise lawfully present in the United States – at the time of the incarceration identified in the inmate record.
3. DHS provides the results of its review to OJP.
4. OJP reviews the data provided by applicants, including data on “correctional officers,” “actual salary expenditures for correctional officers,” and “total all inmate days.” As appropriate and feasible, OJP requires additional – or corrected – information from applicants.
5. For each applicant government with one or more “inmate records” determined to be eligible for payment, GMS calculates the average per-day (salaries) cost per inmate for the applicable “reporting period.” In general, this is done by dividing “actual salary expenditures for correctional officers” (for the reporting period) by “total all inmate days” (for the reporting period).
6. Using the results of the DHS review, the OJP review, and each applicant’s average per-day (salaries) cost per inmate, GMS calculates an amount – referred to as the applicant’s total “eligible inmate costs” – that reflects the applicant’s total (salaries) costs of incarcerating “undocumented criminal aliens” during the applicable “reporting period.”
7. Funds available from appropriations to OJP for SCAAP for the particular application cycle are paid to applicant governments on a proportionate (percentage) basis, using each applicant’s total “eligible inmate costs.”
For the FY 2016 program, the result of this process was that payments made to applicant governments that received payments represented approximately 17 percent of each such applicant’s total “eligible inmate costs.”

Previous Court Action:

The submission of this grant application is approved a yearly basis.

Fiscal Impact

Budget Account Number:	N/A
Funding Source:	Grant Revenue
Balance:	To Be Determined
Financial Impact:
$200,000 Estimated grant funds/revenue.* *However, since the different variables of the specific federal appropriation, number of applicants applying, and maximum reimbursable salary costs for each applying entity all help determined the percentage factor the Bureau of Justice Assistance will utilize, it is difficult to accurately project the grant amount/reimbursement that will be awarded to Webb County.