The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program is the primary provider of federal criminal justice funding to state and local jurisdictions. The JAG FY2019 Grant is a formula grant with emphasis on assisting local efforts to prevent or reduce crime and violence. The eligible jurisdictions within Contra Costa County have a scheduled allocation totaling $144,474 with $25,555, allocated to the County. The $25,555 county allocation will be to the Office of the Sheriff. Established to streamline justice funding and grant administration, the JAG Program allows states, tribes, and local governments to support a broad range of activities to prevent and control crime based on their own local needs and conditions. The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) calculates a minimum base allocation for each state. Once the state funding is calculated, 60 percent of the allocation is awarded to the state and 40 percent to eligible units of local government. Local governments are awarded amounts based on their share of the total violent crime reported within the state. Based on a formula allocation, Contra Costa County has been designated as a disparate jurisdiction because a city within the county is scheduled to receive 150% more than the county, while the county bears more than 50% of the costs associated with the prosecution and incarceration of that city's Part 1 violent crime. Jurisdictions certified as disparate must identify a fiscal agent that will submit a joint application for the total eligible allocation. The Office of the Sheriff has been designated as the fiscal agent for this grant and will manage and oversee the distribution of the funds for all participating agencies within the county. As Fiscal Agent, the Office of the Sheriff will receive 5% ($5,945.95) of the pass through of the grant allocation (5% from each jurisdictions' allocation) to cover management and administration of the grant, to include personnel and operational costs directly related to grant management.  
  
The JAG FY2019 funds again include a requirement to certify compliance with 8 U.S.C. §1373 regarding communication with immigration officials on information regarding an individual's citizenship or immigration status. This requirement, which was also included for the FY2018 funds, was found to be unconstitutional in other jurisdictions and is pending judicial review in California. New additional conditions also have been included for the FY2019 funds that require certification of compliance. The additional conditions include broad acknowledgments such as acknowledgement of the authority of immigration officers to conduct interrogations and acknowledgement that local agencies cannot impede immigration officers in the exercise of their immigration activities, among others. These FY2019 grant certifications of compliance are being challenged by the State of California, City and County of San Francisco, and City of Los Angeles in lawsuits filed August 22 and 23, 2018.

The Sheriff's Office will be unable to apply for and accept the grant from the U.S. Department of Justice.