Washington, D.C. — Congressman Raúl M. Grijalva announces today that the State of Arizona will receive over $41 Million in Department of Justice JAG Program funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan (ARRA). The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program is the primary provider of federal criminal justice funding to state and local jurisdictions.

“Every Arizonan deserves to feel safe in his or her community and these funds help us to achieve that goal. JAG funds give our state, tribal and local governments the resources they need to protect us. This funding is critical to their ability to combat the border violence that has spilled into our communities”.

Arizona will receive $41,966,266 in funding; the 7th Congressional District will receive $4,324, 840 of those designated funds.

JAG funds can be used for state and local initiatives, technical assistance, training, personnel, equipment, supplies, contractual support, and information systems for criminal justice for any one or more of the following purpose areas:

• Law enforcement programs
• Prosecution and court programs
• Prevention and education programs
• Corrections and community corrections programs
• Drug treatment and enforcement programs.
• Planning, evaluation, and technology improvement programs

JAG replaces the Byrne Formula and Local Law Enforcement Block Grant (LLEBG) programs with a single funding mechanism that simplifies the administration process for grantees.

For more information, please go to http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/recoveryJAG/recoveryallocations.html