To: Board of Supervisors
From: Diana Becton, District Attorney
Report Title: FY 2024 Smart Prosecution - Innovative Prosecution Solutions Program Grant
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the District Attorney, or designee, to apply for and accept the Smart Prosecution - Innovative Prosecution Solutions Grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance in an amount not to exceed $350,000 for transitioning to receiving paperless electronic filing from all local law enforcement agencies for the period October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2026.
FISCAL IMPACT:
County will receive up to $350,000 over the entire grant period. No County match is required.
BACKGROUND:
The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) Smart Prosecution - Innovative Prosecution Solutions Grant aims to assist prosecutors in developing innovative and effective strategies to improve public safety. The intention of the BJA Smart Prosecution Grant is to provide funding to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of prosecutors’ policies, processes, and procedures; provide modern technology to better manage and track cases; and pursue and implement practices that better administer justice to communities.
The Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office seeks to apply for the FY24 BJA Smart Prosecution grant to enable the DA’s Office to transition to paperless electronic filing, using technologies from Peregrine. Currently, most law enforcement agencies (LEA) within Contra Costa County still need to manually deliver paper police reports for the District Attorney’s Office to review. The current practice creates more work for all parties involved. Once this process becomes completely paperless, it will allow LEAs to submit their files to the DA’s Office using technologies provided by Peregrine. Overall, this will reduce carbon footprint, maximize efficiency, achieve greater consistency, and improve productivity. The DA’s Office is also seeking BJA Smart Prosecution grant funding for purchasing laptops and docking stations for the attorneys. This will enable the DA’s office to eventually move to complete paperless and have greater security than using personal hotspots in court.
Today's action authorizes the District Attorney, or designee, to submit the grant proposal to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) for consideration and accept the funding if awarded.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
If unapproved, the District Attorney's Office will be unable to apply for and accept the grant and won’t be able to transition to a paperless filing process with all local law enforcement agencies.