WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Grassley today announced that the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs has released grants totaling $519,046 to Iowa through the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program and the Juvenile Accountability Block Grant Program.
“Rural and mid-size communities across the country have major problems with drug use and trafficking that are every bit as bad as in major urban areas. What they don’t often have is the resources to cope with those problems. The Byrne/JAG program is the primary federal assistance program for state and local law enforcement counter-drug activities,” Grassley said. “These funds will help provide the necessary tools for Marshalltown to keep the heat on drug dealers and other criminals.”
The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program allows states and local governments to support a broad range of activities to prevent and control crime and improve the criminal justice system.
"Accountability is important in reforming juvenile offenders and will help them stay out of trouble in the long run," Grassley said. "We need to make sure we do all we can to keep kids away from negative choices like alcohol, drugs, and violence."
The Juvenile Accountability Block Grant Program reduces juvenile offenses by supporting accountability-based programs that focus on offenders as well as state and local juvenile justice systems. The program works to ensure that both the juvenile offender and the juvenile justice system are held accountable.
The funds will be distributed from the U.S. Department of Justice as shown below.
v Iowa Criminal and Juvenile Justice Planning Agency will receive a $506,700 grant through the Juvenile Accountability Block Grant Program and will use the funds to reduce juvenile offending through accountability-based programs focusing on the offender and the juvenile justice system.
v Marshalltown will receive a $12,346 grant through the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program and will use $6,170 of the funds to help the Marshalltown Police Department purchase computers for patrol vehicles to wirelessly connect officers to the department’s records database and use $6,176 of the funds to help the Marshall Country Sheriff’s Office to help pay for the salary of a full-time drug task force detective.