U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced that law enforcement entities are beginning to receive CARES Act funding related to their work to help communities meet COVID-19 challenges.
Eight Mississippi law enforcement entities have been approved for $6.0 million from the Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental Funding (CESF) Program administered by the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). To date, the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, Gulfport, Biloxi, Moss Point, Pascagoula, Clarksdale, and Hinds and Lee counties applied for and received CESF funding.
“Law enforcement is part of the all-of-government approach to fighting the coronavirus outbreak. This CARES Act funding is intended to offset costs sustained by Mississippi law enforcement to help prevent, prepare for, and respond to the pandemic,” Hyde-Smith said. “I fully expect the Bureau of Justice Assistance to approve more of these needed grants to our state.”
The $6,000,027 in CESF funding distributed to Mississippi at this point includes:
- Mississippi Department of Public Safety – $5,531,638
- City of Gulfport – $125,740
- City of Biloxi – $106,222
- Lee County – $58,008
- City of Moss Point – $54,751
- City of Clarksdale $45,597
- City of Pascagoula – $40,590
- Hinds County – $37,481
Grantees may deploy the funding for a broad range of uses including, but are not limited to, overtime, equipment, hiring, supplies, training, travel expenses (particularly related to the distribution of resources to affected areas), and addressing the medical needs of inmates in state, local, and tribal prisons, jails, and detention centers.
In late March following the enactment of the CARES Act, the BJA indicated that 39 cities and counties in Mississippi were eligible for more than $2.87 million in CESF appropriated funding. BJA will accept applications through May 29, and make grant awards on a rolling basis as applications are processed.
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Release from Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith.
