Overview

The Byrne JAG program is divided into two categories: state-level and local-level funds. Local-level funds are only made available to municipalities and federally recognized tribes for projects and programs addressing criminal justice issues at the municipal and intermunicipal levels. The level of funding to each municipality is determined by a formula maintained by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, which assesses the crime rate in relation to the population over a three-year period. The project funding structure is further divided into funds allocated towards: 

 

• Variable Pass-through (VPT) Requirement: States must pass through a predetermined percentage of funds to units of local government. (For purposes of the JAG Program, a “unit of local government” is a city, county, township, town, or certain federally recognized American Indian tribes.) This predetermined percentage (often referred to as the variable pass-through, or VPT) is calculated based on the total criminal justice expenditures by a state and its units of local government. 

 

• Less Than $10,000 Allocations: States must appropriately use or distribute the amount of funds that are added to the state’s JAG award because certain units of local government within the state are ineligible for a direct JAG award due to their small size. (These small-sized units of local government are referred to as “less-than-$10,000 jurisdictions.”) The state must provide these additional funds to state police departments that provide criminal justice services to the less-than-$10,000 jurisdictions within the state and/or subaward the funds to such jurisdictions.