Discussion and possible action to accept a grant award from the Office of the Governor Homeland Security Grants Division in the amount of $774,890.04 for fiscal year 2022 Operation Lone Star (OLS) Grant Program. This grant will cover salaries, overtime, equipment, and supply expenditures for the District Attorney’s Office, Budget Office, County Clerk, District Clerk, the Courts and the Public Defender; and authorizing the Webb County Judge to execute all relevant documents; and any other matters incident thereto. This grant requires no match; and, thus will have no impact to the general fund. 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 Isidro R. Alaniz, Webb County District Attorney]
Issue: There is an unprecedented crisis at our border, dealing with a sharp increase in drug trafficking, human smuggling and weapons. This situation gives way for the need to request additional resources to deter this criminal activity.
Solution: Accept the grant award to provide supplemental resources to assist in combating this illicit criminal activity.
Result: Webb County will have additional resources to deter and interdict criminal activity and to assist in the execution of border security.
Background:
There has been a sharp increase in drug trafficking, human smuggling and weapons over the last year across the Texas/Mexican border. Unfortunately, Webb County is no exception to this crisis; The State of Texas has made available additional resources in the form of a grant to enhance our efforts to crack down on this criminal activity with the main goal of border security.