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56.

Meeting Date:	03/29/2016
FY 2016 SCAAP Grant Application
Submitted for:	Martin Cuellar	Submitted By:	Anita Guerra
Department:	Sheriff

Subject:

Discussion and possible action to authorize the submission of a grant application to the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) for a Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 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.

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, 2014 through June 30, 2015.

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 following provides an overview of the method and formula used by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) to calculate State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) payments:
1. Using financial data from applicants, a per diem rate is calculated for each jurisdiction. For FY 2014 the average per diem rate was $41.26 per inmate.
2. Inmate data is provided to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to validate inmate data for eligible and invalid records.
3. Each jurisdiction’s total eligible inmate days are totaled then multiplied by the applicant’s per diem rate to derive the total correctional officer salary costs for eligible inmate days.
4. The value of each applicant’s correctional officer salary costs associated with its eligible inmate days are totaled. This total value reflects the maximum amount for SCAAP reimbursement. A percentage factor is used to reflect the relationship between the maximum reimbursable salary costs and the appropriation. For FY 2014, this factor was approximately 15 percent.

Previous Court Action:

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

Fiscal Impact

Budget Account Number:	Not Applicable
Funding Source:	Grant
Balance:	Not Applicable
Financial Impact:
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 project the grant amount/reimbursement that will be awarded to Webb County. The FY 2015 award was $85,055.

Attachments
SCAAP Financial Information
Receipt of Intent Letter