El Paso County accepts $700,000 federal grant to bolster cyber‑crime investigations, victim services

El Paso County Commissioners on May 4 approved acceptance of a FY25 U.S. Department of Justice grant (Violence Against Women Act local law enforcement program) to fund a new county Cyber Crime Program, totaling $700,000 for the performance period May 1, 2026 through April 30, 2029.

Katherine Jones, the county’s criminal justice director, described the award as a competitive, pilot‑style program to improve prevention, investigation and prosecution of cyber crimes. The county will partner with the district attorney’s office, the sheriff’s office and local victim‑services providers. Two positions are budgeted in the grant: a cyber‑crime supervision officer housed in the county’s criminal justice coordination (to perform mobile‑device and digital evidence work and to support smaller jurisdictions that lack forensic capacity) and an administrative specialist in the district attorney’s office to manage case intake and coordination.

Planned equipment and services include forensic workstations and mobile device acquisition kits (roughly $60,150 listed in the grant narrative), digital‑forensics software licenses, training and certification allocations (approximate figures discussed) and a roughly $100,000 subaward to a victim‑service organization for specialized support. The county indicated $15,000 was budgeted for training and technical assistance and some funds would support public‑service announcements to raise awareness. County staff emphasized the grant is 100% federal funding and requires no county match.

A public commenter asked for more detailed line‑item clarity and oversight for the multi‑year award; county staff later provided a breakdown in the meeting and said the grant will be managed under grant rules and overseen by the county’s fiscal and program offices. The court approved the award.