Published: March 04, 2008 08:27 am            

Fighting for funding

Legislators, attorneys general request federal justice money

The fight for funding still wages on for the Central Kentucky Area Drug Task Force, but things are looking up.

On Monday, Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway announced that he joined 55 other attorneys general across the nation to request restoration of funding for the federal Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program.

It is funding that may determine whether the CKADTF continues to operate at its current level past this summer.

President George W. Bush signed an omnibus appropriations bill in December which cut $350 million in funding from the program, leaving only $170 million nationwide. Byrne/JAG “provides funding to states and local areas to improve criminal justice system operations,” according to a National Narcotic Officers’ Associations’ Coalition press release.

In Madison County, it provides $75,000 of the CKADTF’s $110,000 annual budget, said Director Rick Johnson.

U.S. Rep. David Loebsack, D-Iowa, is sponsoring H.R. 5180, which was introduced Jan. 29 in the House and referred to the Committee on Appropriations. The bill calls for emergency funding for Byrne/JAG through any funds in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated for fiscal year 2008.

While U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler, D-6th District, is unable to sign onto the bill because of his position as Appropriations Committee chairman, he is an “ardent supporter of this grant program,” said his communications director, Stephanie Pepper.

 “I am very supportive of making the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant program whole again after last year’s devastating cuts,” Chandler said. “The Appropriations Committee has a general policy for its members not to weigh in on appropriations legislation through means outside of the committee. However, as a former attorney general, I know exactly how critical these grants are and will do all I can as a member of the Appropriations Committee to see that we’re funding them.”

U.S. Sens. Mitch McConnell, Christopher S. Bond and Jim Bunning penned a letter Friday to Bush requesting assistance to provide support for the program.

“The Byrne/JAG program has helped create and sustain multi-jurisdictional law enforcement task forces,” the letter states. “We are proud of the successes of Kentucky and Missouri law enforcement agencies in their fight against drugs and drug-related crimes and many of our constituents in law enforcement have cited the Byrne/JAG program as integral to those successes.”

A press release Monday from Conway’s office noted that the AG support effort was spearheaded by attorneys general in Colorado, Maine, Mississippi, Nebraska and Ohio. Several U.S. congressmen also are getting on board, said Tommy Loving, executive director of the Kentucky Narcotic Association.

Conway’s statement expressed concerns similar to those of the congressmen.

“Byrne funds are critical in our fight against drugs and violent crimes,” Conway said. “If the severe cuts to Byrne funding are not restored, many of the multi-jurisdictional task forces across our commonwealth will cease to exist, destroying years of cooperation and progress in crime and drug enforcement.”

On the home front

CKADTF is comprised of detectives from Madison, Clark, Jackson and Garrard counties and the Berea Police Department. The money awarded to the task force for fiscal year 2007 funds operational costs, including rent, utilities, phone lines and office equipment in addition to money to purchase evidence and pay confidential informants, Johnson said.

The Central Kentucky Area Drug Task Force is not the only agency in Kentucky which will be affected by federal cuts to the Byrne/JAG program. Fourteen Kentucky agencies, including Kentucky State Police and Louisville and Lexington Metro Police Departments, receive monies from the Byrne/JAG program.

Agencies such as CKADTF are necessary because while patrol officers do a good job investigating street-level drug activity, they “don’t have the time or resources to do long-term, undercover investigations to get to upper-level traffickers,” Loving said previously.

Monday, Johnson said he is excited about the recent support from both state and federal administrators and applauded their efforts.

“I think with them on board it certainly will give us a little more momentum in the fight to get funding restored,” Johnson said. “From the prosecutors’ standpoint, they see the need for task forces and treatment programs and all the good things they bring to the community. It’s a good feeling to know we are receiving their support in our efforts in the war on drugs.”

But Loving said the fight is not over yet.

“This is by no means a done deal,” he said. “We still have a fight we have got to keep up. This is kind of a do or die deal for us between now and June.”

Kelly Foreman can be reached at kforeman@richmondregister.com or 624-6694.

        

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