Primary Department: District Attorney
Primary Department Head/Elected Official: Sean Teare, District Attorney
Secondary Department: N/A
Secondary Department Head/Elected Official:
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Grant - Application
Project ID (if applicable):
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable): U.S. Department of Justice/Office of Justice Programs/Bureau of Justice Assistance
MWBE Contracted Goal (if applicable):
MWBE Current Participation (if applicable):
Justification for 0% MWBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal not applicable to request
Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): 5%
Justification for 0% Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A - Rate is not 0% and is listed above.
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
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Request by the District Attorney for approval to submit an application to the U.S. Department of Justice/Office of Justice Programs/Bureau of Justice Assistance for grant funds in the amount of $600,000, with no required match, for the FY25 Upholding the Rule of Law and Preventing Wrongful Convictions Program.
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Background and Discussion:
Office of Justice Program (OJP) is committed to advancing work that furthers DOJ’s mission to uphold the rule of law, to keep our country safe, and to protect civil rights. OJP provides federal leadership, funding, and other critical resources to directly support law enforcement, combat violent crime, protect American children, provide services to American crime victims, and address public safety challenges, including human trafficking and the opioid crisis.
This notice of funding opportunity supports conviction integrity units (CIU) and wrongful conviction review (WCR) entities. CIUs enhance criminal justice system integrity. WCR entities represent and review individual cases of post-conviction claim of innocence. The goal of this program is to strengthen the capacity of CIUs and WCR entities and their criminal justice and victims’ services partners to more effectively and efficiently identify, assess, and manage post-conviction claims of innocence. Additionally, it aims to prevent future errors, identify and apprehend actual perpetrators of crimes, and deliver justice to victims. Harris County District Attorney’s Office seeks $600,000 in grant funds for the grant year beginning October 1, 2026 and ending September 30, 2029.
Expected Impact:
The goal of this program is to strengthen the capacity of CIUs and WCR entities and their criminal justice and victims’ services partners to more effectively and efficiently identify, assess, and manage post-conviction claims of innocence. Additionally, it aims to prevent future errors, identify and apprehend actual perpetrators of crimes, and deliver justice to victims, thereby enhancing public safety. This grant would fund the Conviction Integrity Modernization Project of the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
Alternative Options:
Without approval the Conviction Integrity Modernization Project of the Harris County District Attorney’s Office would go unfunded.
County Strategic Plan Goal: 1. Make Harris County safer and more just.
County Strategic Plan Objective: E: Increase efficiency across the legal system.
Justice/Safety Initiative (Goal 1): N/A
Infrastructure Initiative (Goal 2): Choose an item.
Economy Initiative (Goal 3): Choose an item.
Health Initiative (Goal 4): Choose an item.
Climate/Resilience Initiative (Goal 5): Choose an item.
Housing Initiative (Goal 6): Choose an item.
Additional notes related to the Strategic Plan:
Prior Court Action (if any):
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Fiscal and Personnel Summary |
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Conviction Integrity Modernization Project |
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Total Funding Sources |
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Grants - Proposed Budget (For Grants Items only) |
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Local Match Source - Existing Budget: Choose an item. |
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3 |
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Local Match Source - Additional Budget Request: Choose an item. |
$ |
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Grant Funds Applied for/Awarded (Total) |
$600,000 |
$ |
$600,000.00 |
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Personnel (Fill out section only if requesting new Position Control Numbers (PCN)s) |
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Current Position Count for Service |
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Additional Positions Request |
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Total Personnel |
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County Attorney’s Office Legal Review (for Harris County Code Items only) |
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CAO Reviewer Name and Title |
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CAO Review Completion Date |
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Anticipated Court Date: 4/16/2026
Anticipated Implementation Date (if different from Court date): 10/1/2026
Emergency/Disaster Recovery Note: Not an emergency, disaster, or ARPA related item
Contact(s) name, title, department: Kevin Le, Finance Assistant Director, District Attorney’s Office
Attachments (if applicable): Notice of Funding Opportunity, Standard Assurances, Lobbying Disclosure