Jefferson County sheriff seeks support for multiple grants, says office turned down two federal awards over terms

David Krives, budget and finance director for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, briefed the Board of County Commissioners on July 8 about five grant requests and three congressionally directed spending proposals intended to fund deputy training, behavioral-health services and upgraded incident communications.

Krives said the smallest request is a $2,116 Statewide Internet Portal Authority (SIPA) grant to buy iPads for records staff, which would let citizens file forms electronically for field handgun permits and open-records requests. “Grant is for $2,116 there is no match required,” Krives said, and the office asked the board for formal support of the application and authority to add any award to the sheriff’s budget via a supplemental appropriation.

Krives described two small Colorado Incident Management Team grants totaling $20,500 aimed at training and supplies for the county’s multiagency incident management team. “This grant would . . . provide funding for some required training for management team members and supplies to enhance response communication, control and command,” he said, adding there was no local match required and that the money would come from Colorado Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

Krives also described a Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) Peace Officer Behavioral Health Support grant the sheriff’s office is pursuing to continue a neurofeedback therapy program. He said 73 deputies were currently participating in the county program and 89 people were on a wait list. “This is a grant for $300,000. There is no match required,” Krives said. He said the sheriff’s office also intends to pursue other funding sources to expand services to immediate family members of deputies.

The sheriff’s office reported two related congressionally directed spending requests: proposed purchases of real-time biometric monitoring bracelets to detect withdrawal risk in detainees, upgraded communications equipment for remote incident response including a forward command post, and new radios to improve interoperability at large incidents. Krives said the sheriff’s office submitted these requests to the county’s federal delegation for consideration; he said no match was required and that, if awarded, the county would return to the board to accept the funds via a budget supplemental.

Separately, Krives and another participant noted a separate $569,000 award for real-time biometric monitoring had been approved in a recent grant round, but that the award did not cover the total program cost and the sheriff’s office would explore additional funding for a second year.

Sheriff (identified in the briefing as Sheriff Reginaldi) described recently encountering new federal grant contract language that the office believes would conflict with state law; he said the language would permit immigration authorities access to detention facilities. “There is a clause that is being put in our federal grants that . . . states that, we will allow ICE into our detention facility at any given time to speak to whomever they wish to do so,” the sheriff said during the July 8 briefing. He said he had declined to sign terms he considered unlawful and that, as a result, the sheriff’s office had withdrawn from or not pursued two federal grant opportunities in the past week, including a COPS grant.

Board members voiced support for the grant applications Krives presented and for the sheriff’s office decisions to review federal contract language before accepting funds. Commissioners also discussed the possibility of a short future briefing or work session with the sheriff’s office, emergency services and county communications staff to review emergency communications gaps and public messaging.

No formal ordinance or budget appropriation was adopted at the July 8 briefing. Commissioners gave consent support to the grant application requests and to returning to the board to accept awards and process supplements if and when the grants are awarded.

Ending: The sheriff’s office will proceed with grant applications already submitted, the board provided support to accept awards if offered, and the county will consider a future briefing on emergency communications and coordination.