Primary Department: Sheriff
Primary Department Head/Elected Official: Ed Gonzalez
Secondary Department: County Administration
Secondary Department Head/Elected Official: Diana Ramirez, County Administrator
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Financial Authorization
Project ID (if applicable): FLEX_TELEDEPUTY, FLEX_DTNOFFICER
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable): N/A
MWBE Contracted Goal (if applicable): N/A
MWBE Current Participation (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% MWBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal not applicable to request
Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A - Not a grant item
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
title
Request by the Sheriff’s Office for approval to allocate up to $2.8 million in FLEX Funds to continue the TeleDeputy and Detention Officer Retention programs in 2025.
end
Background and Discussion:
To facilitate projects in the ARPA portfolio for which general funds are a better fit than federal funds, eligible expenses currently budgeted in the General Fund are charged to the ARPA grant, as allowed under the ARPA guidance. Moving eligible expenses to the grant frees up General Fund budget which can be transferred to FLEX Fund 1040 for projects aligned to the ARPA priority outcomes and approved via the ARPA governance processes.
ARPA funds must be obligated by December 31, 2024, and expended by December 31, 2026. Program budgets encumbered by a contract, purchase order, or full-time employee (FTE) are reported as obligated. However, the TeleDeputy and Detention Officer Retention programs require booking overtime or disbursing an incentive payment. The remaining funds in these programs should be funded through the FLEX Fund.
This request will allocate up to $2.8 million in available funds to the FLEX Fund to continue operating the programs in 2025. Available funds are outlined below:
|
Program |
Available Funds |
|
TeleDeputy |
$420,385 |
|
Detention Officer Retention |
$2,371,665 |
|
Total |
$2,792,050 |
Expected Impact: Continuation of TeleDeputy and Detention Officer Retention programs in 2025.
Alternative Options: Not moving this portion of the budge to FLEX Fund 1040 would prevent the TeleDeputy and Detention Officer Retention programs from continuing in 2025.
County Strategic Plan Goal: 1. Make Harris County safer and more just.
County Strategic Plan Objective: B: Reduce criminal legal system exposure that does not advance public safety.
Justice/Safety Initiative (Goal 1): B2: Increase law enforcement’s use of deflection and crisis co-response programs to address mental and behavioral health crisis situations and issues related to substance use, mental health, poverty, and homelessness.
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):
|
Date |
Agenda Item # |
Action Taken |
|
02/27/2024 |
512 |
Approval to allocate up to $55,000 in ARPA Local Fiscal Recovery Funds from cost savings identified in the TeleDeputy Program to pay overtime for Sergeants helping to manage the program. |
|
09/19/2023 |
14 |
Approval of $5.7M in ARPA Local Fiscal Recovery Funds for detention officer salaries and to shift the funding source to the general fund for the detention officer retention program. |
|
06/27/2023 |
14 |
Approval to allocate $1,710,839 in ARPA Local Fiscal Recovery Funds for the TeleDeputy Unit to allow deputies to work overtime at the Emergency Dispatch Center (EDC) specifically to respond to calls for service that do not require an on-scene law enforcement response. |
Location:
Address (if applicable):
Precinct(s): Countywide
|
Fiscal and Personnel Summary |
|
Service Name |
|
|
|
|
Current Fiscal Year Cost |
Annual Fiscal Cost |
|
|
Labor |
Non-Labor |
Total |
Recurring Expenses |
|
Funding Sources |
|
|
Existing Budget |
|
|
|
|
|
2651 - American Rescue Plan 2021 |
$ |
$2,792,050 |
$2,792,050 |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Total Existing Budget |
$ |
$2,792,050 |
$2,792,050 |
$ |
|
Additional Budget Request (Requires Fiscal Review Request Form) |
|
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Total Additional Budget Request |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Total Funding Sources |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Grants - Proposed Budget (For Grants Items only) |
|
|
Labor |
Non-Labor |
Total |
No. of Grant Years |
|
Local Match Source - Existing Budget: Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
|
Local Match Source - Additional Budget Request: Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
|
Grant Funds Applied for/Awarded (Total) |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
|
Personnel (Fill out section only if requesting new PCNs) |
|
|
Current Position Count for Service |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
Additional Positions Request |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
Total Personnel |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Anticipated Court Date: 2/6/2025
Anticipated Implementation Date (if different from Court date): Click or tap to enter a date.
Emergency/Disaster Recovery Note: COVID-19 related item
Contact(s) name, title, department: Michael Lanham, Director of Finance, Harris County Sheriff’s Office
Attachments (if applicable):