governmentEnhancing rural law enforcement in Texas

New grants to boost law enforcement salaries, hiring in smaller communities

April 2024 | By Landre Buzard and Morgan Hecht

A new grant program is addressing challenges faced by law enforcement offices in counties with small populations. The program allows sheriffs, constables and district and county attorneys to raise salaries and, in some cases, make new hires. In its first year of operation, the rural law enforcement grant program administered by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts has received more than 500 applications and delivered nearly $126 million to grant applicants.

The 88th Texas Legislature enacted the program to help rural law enforcement and prosecutor offices that often struggle to attract and retain qualified personnel due to limited funding. Bigger cities frequently have the financial capacity to offer enhanced incentives, while smaller law enforcement agencies and prosecutor offices typically must do the same work with smaller budgets due to considerably less local tax revenue.

“For the Texas economy to grow and prosper, we must make sure that Texas families feel safe, and that requires supporting our local law enforcement men and women who work tirelessly every day,” says Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar. “Tragically, some governmental jurisdictions are defunding the police, yet thankfully Texas leadership has stepped up with additional support for law enforcement agencies across our vast state.”

Russell Gallahan

The program provides for qualified counties (on behalf of sheriffs and constables) and prosecutor’s offices to apply for grants up to 30 days after the start of their fiscal year. But to jump-start the program in its 2024 inaugural year, the Comptroller’s office allowed all eligible counties to apply for grants from Jan. 1 to Jan. 31, regardless of their fiscal year start date, says Russell Gallahan, supervisor of the Comptroller’s Local Government and Transparency team.

The Legislature appropriated $330 million for the 2024-25 biennium to fund the grant program. The first-year application period saw 503 grant applications from sheriff’s, constable’s and prosecutor’s offices (Exhibit 1).

Exhibit 1: January 2024 Grant Totals

January 2024 Grant Totals
Office Type	Number of Applications	Grant Amount
Sheriff	224	$77,500,000
Constable	19	$250,981
County Prosecutors	124	$19,625,000
District Attorney; Criminal District Attorney; County and District Attorney	136	$28,600,000
Total	503	$125,975,981

Source: Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts

Eligibility and Application Process

The grant program is available for prosecutor jurisdictions and counties with populations of 300,000 or less, which means 236 of Texas’ 254 counties are eligible for this type of grant opportunity (Exhibit 2).

Out of 254 counties, 236 are eligible. List of eligible counties below. — Note: Grant eligibility is based on population from 2020 Census data.

Source: Texas Demographic Center

Funding Allocations and Qualified Expenditures

The Comptroller’s office distributes available funds for the grants based on county population in the case of constable’s and sheriff’s offices or jurisdiction population in the case of prosecutor’s offices. Grantees must adhere to specific expenditure criteria, with an emphasis on meeting minimum salary levels.

Sheriff’s offices

Sheriff’s offices in qualified counties are eligible for grants ranging from $250,000 to $500,000, depending on population size. Expenditure criteria include meeting minimum annual salaries for key positions, hiring additional deputies or staff and acquiring essential equipment for law enforcement purposes. Importantly, before allocating funds for other allowable expenses, counties must prioritize meeting the minimum annual salaries for county sheriffs, deputies who make motor stops in the routine performance of duties and each jailer with the duties of safekeeping of prisoners and security of a jail operated by the county (Exhibit 3).

Exhibit 3: Sheriff’s Office Grant Amounts and County Population Requirements

Sheriff’s Office Grant Amounts and County Population Requirements
Grant Amount	Population Requirement
$250,000	Less than 10,000
$350,000	10,000 or more but less than 50,000
$500,000	50,000 or more but less than 300,000

Source:Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts

Prosecutor’s offices

For prosecutor’s offices, the grant amounts range from $100,000 to $275,000 based on the jurisdiction's population. (Jurisdiction may include multiple counties.) Prosecutor’s offices must use these funds to increase salaries or hire additional staff, reinforcing the legal infrastructure in rural areas (Exhibit 4).

Exhibit 4: Prosecutor’s Office Grant Amounts and Jurisdiction Population Requirements

Prosecutor’s Office Grant Amounts and Jurisdiction Population Requirements
Grant Amount	Population Requirement
$100,000	Less than 10,000
$175,000	10,000 or more but less than 50,000
$275,000	50,000 or more but less than 300,000

Source: Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts

Constable’s offices

Grants for constable’s offices help ensure a minimum annual salary of $45,000 for qualified constables. Constable’s offices serving counties with a population of less than 300,000 are eligible to apply for grant funds.

Continued Support for Rural Law Enforcement

“The program’s emphasis on minimum annual salaries, allocation of funds for essential expenditures and a transparent application process contributes to the overarching goal of enhancing professional law enforcement throughout the state,” Gallahan says.

The Comptroller’s office is dedicated to ensuring the program runs smoothly and efficiently to support hardworking law enforcement and help make communities safer.

A REVIEW OF THE TEXAS ECONOMY

governmentEnhancing rural law enforcement in Texas

Exhibit 1: January 2024 Grant Totals

Eligibility and Application Process

Exhibit 2: Texas Counties with Populations of 300,000 or Less

Funding Allocations and Qualified Expenditures

Sheriff’s offices

Exhibit 3: Sheriff’s Office Grant Amounts and County Population Requirements

Prosecutor’s offices

Exhibit 4: Prosecutor’s Office Grant Amounts and Jurisdiction Population Requirements

Constable’s offices

Continued Support for Rural Law Enforcement

Required Applications:

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A REVIEW OF THE TEXAS ECONOMY

governmentEnhancing rural law enforcement in Texas

Exhibit 1: January 2024 Grant Totals

Eligibility and Application Process

Exhibit 2: Texas Counties with Populations of 300,000 or Less

Funding Allocations and Qualified Expenditures

Sheriff’s offices

Exhibit 3: Sheriff’s Office Grant Amounts and County Population Requirements

Prosecutor’s offices

Exhibit 4: Prosecutor’s Office Grant Amounts and Jurisdiction Population Requirements

Constable’s offices

Continued Support for Rural Law Enforcement

Required Applications: