An almost $89,000 federal grant is headed to the Hawaii County Office of the Prosecuting Attorney to fund training and technology-related upgrades and purchases.
The 2012 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant, administered by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance, allocated $88,650 to county prosecutors to purchase computer hardware and software, upgrade the department’s justice information system, and provide law enforcement staff with training, according to a Thursday statement from Hawaii’s Congressional delegation.
Dale Ross, first deputy prosecuting attorney, said the grant will help the office improve its systems without requiring county money. She confirmed the grant, which in alternating years is awarded to prosecutors or the Hawaii Police Department, will be used to fund technology-related improvements and integration of the office’s data systems.
The county’s share equates to 5.6 percent of the $1.6 million awarded to the state, Honolulu City and County and the neighbor islands for fiscal year 2012-13. The state Department of the Attorney General received $926,191, Honolulu City and County $477,205, Maui County $48,471 and Kauai County $41,491, according to the Congressional members.
The program is the leading source of federal justice funding to state and local jurisdictions. The funding can support a range of program areas including law enforcement, prosecution and courts, crime prevention and education, corrections and community corrections, drug treatment and enforcement, planning, evaluation, technology improvement, and crime victim and witness initiatives.
In fiscal year 2012-13, the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant had $295.58 million available to 56 states, territories and the District of Columbia, comprising 1,217 local jurisdictions. Of that, $193 million was designated for the state and territorial levels and $95 million for local governments, according to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance.
