The Public Safety Office (PSO) is soliciting grant applications under the Local Border Security Program (LBSP) for projects that support Operation Border Star during state fiscal year 2024.
Operation Border Star centers on the use of intelligence to increase the effectiveness of federal, state, and local law enforcement assets. The purpose of the program is to sustain interagency law enforcement operations and enhance local law enforcement patrols to facilitate directed actions to deter and interdict criminal activity. Program participants shall assist in the execution of coordinated border security operations in an effort to:
State funds for these projects are authorized under the Texas General Appropriations Act, Article I, Rider 20 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.
1. Units of local government; and
2. Federally Recognized Native American tribes.
3. Eligible applicants must be located in a County within one of the six DPS Joint Operations and Intelligence Centers (JOIC) Regions including:
Applicants must access the PSO’s eGrants grant management website at https://eGrants.gov.texas.gov to register and apply for funding.
Projects selected for funding must begin on or after September 1, 2023 and expire on or before August 31, 2024.
Minimum: None
Maximum: None
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.
Funding may be used to provide additional personnel, equipment, supplies, contractual support, travel, and training in support of Operation Border Star activities, including for any one or more of the following activities.
1. LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL - OVERTIME
2. LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL - REGULAR or STRAIGHT-TIME
3. LAW ENFORCEMENT EQUIPMENT: Costs for equipment, or the rental of equipment, which will benefit the border security mission and will be routinely utilized during border security operations.
4. LAW ENFORCEMENT SUPPLIES and DIRECT OPERATING EXPENSE: Certain operational costs are also allowable, such as vehicle operating costs or costs for minor emergency repairs as described below, or for other services pre-approved by the HSGD that are critical to success of the program.
1. MEDICAL EXAMINER PERSONNEL – OVERTIME
2. MEDICAL EXAMINER PERSONNEL – REGULAR or STRAIGHT-TIME & TEMPORARY POSITIONS
3. MEDICAL EXAMINER - EQUIPMENT & TECHNOLOGY
4. MEDICAL EXAMINER - SUPPLIES and DIRECT OPERATING EXPENSE
5. MEDICAL EXAMINER – CONTRACTUAL
1. Eligible applicants must agree to perform the following activities:
2. Eligible applicants must agree to submit information on incidents using the Border Incident Assessment Report (BIAR).
The grantee shall report all border-related events to the JOIC using the BIAR. BIAR reporting shall include events that occur during Enhanced Operation activities AND events that occur during Steady State activities. Enhanced (Surge) Operations originate out of the use of LBSP funds when the local agency chooses to increase the hours of patrol or the number of investigative bodies. Steady State activities are defined as normal patrol or investigative duties that do not use grant funds, but directly impact the overall LBSP mission, such as organized crime arrests, terroristic activities, weapons trafficking arrests, kidnappings, human trafficking, human smuggling, home invasions with a border or organized crime nexus, illegal immigration, border-related murders, gang-related murders, vehicle thefts, or drug trafficking.
The BIAR is the primary incident and information-reporting tool for the grantee in local border security operations. The grantee shall ensure all BIARs conform to the respective standards outlined by the JOIC and are submitted within 24 hours of the end of shift and/or the timeframes established by the JOIC.
3. Applicants must provide a copy of the local overtime policy as approved by its governing board. This policy will be considered the official policy for grant purposes and must be used throughout the grant period.
1. 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.
2. 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 percent of convictions within five business days to the Criminal Justice Information System at the Department of Public Safety.
3. 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.
4. 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; or (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). 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, 2024 or the end of the grant period, whichever is later.
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.
6. 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:
Application Screening: The Office of the Governor will screen all applications to ensure that they meet the requirements included in the funding announcement.
Peer/Merit Review: Applications will be reviewed by PSO staff in consultation with DPS Regional JOIC representatives. Funding decisions will be based on eligibility and operational content, which includes, but is not limited to, the following:
Final Decisions: The Executive Director will consider rankings along with other factors and make all final funding decisions. Other factors may include cost effectiveness, overall funds availability, or state government priorities and strategies.
The Office of the Governor may not fund all applications or may only award part of the amount requested. In the event that funding requests exceed available funds, the Office of the Governor 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.