The purpose of this program is to provide financial assistance to law enforcement agencies to purchase or develop a crime victim notification system.

State funds for these projects are authorized under the Texas General Appropriations Act, Article I for Trusteed Programs within the Office of the Governor. All awards are subject to the availability of appropriated funds and any modifications or additional requirements that may be imposed by law.

Note: Pursuant to Texas Grant Management Standards, when appropriate for procurement or use of common or shared goods and services, applicants are encouraged to enter into intergovernmental agreements and utilize the cooperative purchasing programs established by Statewide Procurement Division (SPD) or Department of Information Resources (DIR) for procurement transactions.

Applications may be submitted by state agencies, units of local government and educational institutions that operate law enforcement agencies which includes municipalities, counties, independent school districts, universities, public and private colleges and universities, community colleges, and hospital districts that seek to implement a victim notification system.

All applications submitted by local law enforcement agencies/offices must be submitted by a unit of government affiliated with the agency, including an authorizing resolution from that unit of government. For example, police departments must apply under their municipal government, and community supervision and corrections departments, district attorneys, and judicial districts must apply through their affiliated county government (or one of the counties, in the case of agencies that serve more than one county).

Applicants must access the PSO’s eGrants grant management website at https://eGrants.gov.texas.gov to register and apply for funding.

***NEW APPLICATION SUBMISSION REQUIREMENT***

The following documents must be submitted with the application for the application to be considered complete and eligible for funding. See the Eligibility Requirements and/or Program-Specific Requirements Sections of this Funding Announcement for more details on the requirements for each attachment/certification:

• Resolution from Governing Body - Applications from nonprofit corporations, local units of governments, and other political subdivisions must submit a fully executed resolution.
• CEO/Law Enforcement - Each local unit of government, and institution of higher education that operates a law enforcement agency, must certify compliance with federal and state immigration enforcement requirements.

Failure to submit the fully executed required attachment(s) by the application deadline may result in the application being deemed ineligible

Projects may not exceed 12 months and must begin on 9/01/2026 and expire on or before 8/31/2027.

Minimum: No Minimum

Maximum: No Maximum

Match Requirement: None

Grantees must comply with standards applicable to this fund source cited in the Texas Grant Management Standards (TxGMS), Federal Uniform Grant Guidance, and all statutes, requirements, and guidelines applicable to this funding.

Agencies seeking grant funding to implement crime victim notification systems must include the following features:

• Automatically, and without the requirement to download a software application to opt-in to notifications, notify a victim or relative of a deceased victim by e-mail or text message of all the following regarding a victim's case:
  •  The date on which the incident report is created;
  •  The case number;
  •  The names of investigators who are assigned to the case;
  •  The date an arrest is made;
  •  The date an affidavit alleging probable cause is presented to the attorney representing the state;
  •  The date the defendant is arraigned under Chapter 26, Code of Criminal Procedure;
  •  Whether the case has been dismissed by the attorney representing the state; and
  •  Any other information relevant to the case;
• Interface with the law enforcement agency's system of records;
• Provide configurable triggers to directly send messages;
• Provide the capability:
  •  To attach informational brochures or other electronic attachments to the messages;
  •  For a person to check the case status;
  •  To transmit notifications in English or Spanish; and
  •  To respond to questions via artificial intelligence;
• Monitor the number and types of messages sent and enable a user to visualize that data; and
• Provide a survey tool so the law enforcement agency can solicit feedback on victims services.

None

1. Applications from nonprofit corporations, local units of governments, and other political subdivisions must submit a fully executed resolution with the application to be considered eligible for funding. The resolution must contain the following elements (see Sample Resolution):

• Authorization by your governing body for the submission of the application to the Public Safety Office (PSO) that clearly identifies the name of the project for which funding is requested;
• A commitment to provide all applicable matching funds;
• A designation of the name and/or title of an authorized official who is given the authority to apply for, accept, reject, alter, or terminate a grant;
• A designation of the name and/or title of a financial officer who is given the authority to submit financial and/or performance reports or alter a grant; and
• A written assurance that, in the event of loss or misuse of grant funds, the governing body will return all funds to PSO

2. Local units of governments must comply with the Cybersecurity Training requirements described in Section 772.012 and Section 2054.5191 of the Texas Government Code. Local governments determined to not be in compliance with the cybersecurity requirements required by Section 2054.5191 of the Texas Government Code are ineligible for OOG grant funds until the second anniversary of the date the local government is determined ineligible. Government entities must annually certify their compliance with the training requirements using the Cybersecurity Training Certification for State and Local Governments. A copy of the Training Certification must be uploaded to your eGrants application. For more information or to access available training programs, visit the Texas Department of Information Resources Statewide Cybersecurity Awareness Training page.

3. Entities receiving funds from PSO must be located in a county that has an average of 90% or above on both adult and juvenile dispositions entered into the computerized criminal history database maintained by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) as directed in the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Chapter 66. The disposition completeness percentage is defined as the percentage of arrest charges a county reports to DPS for which a disposition has been subsequently reported and entered into the computerized criminal history system.

Counties applying for grant awards from the Office of the Governor must commit that the county will report at least 90% of convictions within five business days to the Criminal Justice Information System at the Department of Public Safety.

4. Eligible applicants operating a law enforcement agency must be current on reporting complete UCR data and the Texas specific reporting mandated by 411.042 TGC, to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) for inclusion in the annual Crime in Texas (CIT) publication. To be considered eligible for funding, applicants must have submitted a full twelve months of accurate data to DPS for the most recent calendar year by the deadline(s) established by DPS. Due to the importance of timely reporting, applicants are required to submit complete and accurate UCR data, as well as the Texas-mandated reporting, on a no less than monthly basis and respond promptly to requests from DPS related to the data submitted.

5. In accordance with Texas Government Code, Section 420.034, any facility or entity that collects evidence for sexual assault or other sex offenses or investigates or prosecutes a sexual assault or other sex offense for which evidence has been collected, must participate in the statewide electronic tracking system developed and implemented by the Texas Department of Public Safety. Visit DPS’s Sexual Assault Evidence Tracking Program website for more information or to set up an account to begin participating. Additionally, per Section 420.042 "A law enforcement agency that receives evidence of a sexual assault or other sex offense...shall submit that evidence to a public accredited crime laboratory for analysis no later than the 30th day after the date on which that evidence was received." A law enforcement agency in possession of a significant number of Sexual Assault Evidence Kits (SAEK) where the 30-day window has passed may be considered noncompliant.

6. Local units of government, including cities, counties and other general purpose political subdivisions, as appropriate, and institutions of higher education that operate a law enforcement agency, must comply with all aspects of the programs and procedures utilized by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) to: (1) notify DHS of all information requested by DHS related to illegal aliens in Agency’s custody; and (2) detain such illegal aliens in accordance with requests by DHS. Additionally, counties and municipalities may NOT have in effect, purport to have in effect, or make themselves subject to or bound by, any law, rule, policy, or practice (written or unwritten) that would: (1) require or authorize the public disclosure of federal law enforcement information in order to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection fugitives from justice or aliens illegally in the United States, 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(iii); (2) impede federal officers from exercising authority under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), § 1226(c), § 1231(a), § 1357(a), § 1366(1), or § 1366(3); (3) encourage or induce an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States in violation of law, 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(iv); (4) result in the illegal transport or movement of aliens within the United States, 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(ii) . Lastly, eligible applicants must comply with all provisions, policies, and penalties found in Chapter 752, Subchapter C of the Texas Government Code.

Each local unit of government, and institution of higher education that operates a law enforcement agency, must download, complete and then upload into eGrants the CEO/Law Enforcement Certifications and Assurances Form certifying compliance with federal and state immigration enforcement requirements. This Form is required for each application submitted to OOG and is active until August 31, 2027 or the end of the grant period, whichever is later.

7. Eligible applicants must be registered in the federal System for Award Management (SAM) database and have an UEI (Unique Entity ID) number assigned to its agency (to get registered in the SAM database and request an UEI number, go to https://sam.gov/).

Failure to comply with program eligibility requirements may cause funds to be withheld and/or suspension or termination of grant funds.

Grant funds may not be used to support the unallowable costs listed in the Guide to Grants or any of the following unallowable costs:

1. Lobbying or advocacy activities with respect to legislation or to administrative changes to regulations or administrative policy, whether conducted directly or indirectly;
2. The active investigation and prosecution of criminal activity;
3. Any activities related to fundraising;
4. Capital improvements; property losses and expenses; real estate purchases; mortgage payments; remodeling; and construction;
5. Transportation, lodging, per diem or any related costs for third-party participants to attend a training, when grant funds are used to develop and conduct training;
6. Leasing or purchasing of vehicles;
7. Research and studies;
8. Law enforcement equipment that is standard department issue;
9. Promotional items; and
10. Any other prohibition imposed by federal, state or local law or regulation.

PSO will screen all applications to ensure that they meet the requirements included in the funding announcement.

Applications will then be reviewed by PSO staff members or a review group selected by the executive director. PSO will make all final funding decisions based on eligibility, reasonableness, availability of funding, and cost-effectiveness.

PSO may not fund all applications or may only award part of the amount requested. If funding requests exceed available funds, PSO may revise projects to address a more limited focus.

For more information, contact the eGrants help desk at eGrants@gov.texas.gov or (512) 463-1919.