AAC
LEGAL CORNER
Arkansas officials act swiftly against federal withholding of drug task force funds
approved by the Joint Budget Committee of the General Assembly in response to an unforeseen halt of federal dol- lars that had been funding the task forces. The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program was created in 2004 to help state and local governments work cooperatively in addressing illegal drug sales and re- lated crime. Made up of employees of local sheriffs, police chiefs, and prosecutors, Arkansas’ drug task forces rely on the Byrne JAG grant to pay for necessary equipment, ad- ministrative salaries, and operational expenses. For Fiscal Year 2017, which runs from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018, Arkansas was eligible for over $2 million in Byrne JAG funding. Drug task forces across
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the country have been routinely receiving these funds for over a decade now with little interfer- ence from federal officials until recently. Te halt of grant money comes as a result of a deep-seated battle over immigration policy and places that have come to be known as “sanctuary cities.” Te term refers to localities that have refused to cooperate with Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) offi- cials as required by new federal regulations. In July, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced new
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ov. Asa Hutchinson announced in early March that he will be releasing $600,000 in Rainy Day funding for Arkansas’ 20 inter- governmental drug task forces, a move later
rug task forces across the country have been routinely receiving these funds for over a
decade now with little interference from federal of- ficials until recently.
JAG funding applicants are contra- dictory to the statute establishing the grant, the constitutional sepa- ration of powers, and also “would undermine public safety and effec- tive policing in the City ... .” On Sept. 15, the court issued a partial injunction stating that the DOJ un- der Attorney General Sessions had exceeded the authority conferred by Congress with its notice and new “access conditions” to 2017 Byrne JAG applicants. However, the court upheld Sessions’ authority to require a cer- tificate of compliance “with all other applicable federal laws” from all applicants. Sessions immediately appealed the lower court’s ruling to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and has since withheld all Fiscal Year 2017 Byrne JAG awards, whether the recipients were found to be incompliant with the DOJ’s new regulations or not. Additionally, in Jan- uary, Te DOJ issued a press release revealing that it had sent a letter to 23
LINDSEY BAILEY General Counsel
Department of Justice (DOJ) regulations that would require states or local jurisdictions that seek federal funding to co- operate with federal immigration agents. Specifically, agencies seeking funding must give ICE officials notice when illegal immigrants are nearing release from custody, allow ICE agents access to local jails, and give ICE 48 hours’ notice “where prac- ticable” before a person that ICE agents suspect is an illegal immigrant is released from custody. Sessions announced that those agencies applying for Fiscal Year 2017 Byrne JAG fund- ing in September 2017 must meet these new requirements. In response, the City of Chicago filed a lawsuit in the U.S.
District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in August 2017. Te lawsuit alleges that the new requirements for Byrne
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states or localities, including the City of Chicago, demanding that they provide proof of compliance with 8 U.S.C. 1373, the federal statute “that promotes information sharing related to immigration enforcement and with which compliance is a condition of FY2016 and FY2017 Byrne JAG awards,” or be subject to federal subpoena, potentially losing, or even having to pay back some Byrne JAG funding. Meanwhile, the Fiscal Year 2017 Byrne JAG funding that
Arkansas task forces expected to receive and that both the Ar- kansas Governor and General Assembly relied on when pass- ing budgets is being held up amid the litigation. Drug task forces across the state have held meetings to discuss the uncer- tainty the task forces face when the Byrne funds inevitably dry up. No other source of state revenue is available to keep these task forces operational, and local jurisdictions certainly do not have the extra money budgeted to supplement the task forces administrative and operational costs. In response to this uncertainty, and the detriment that the state could face if the drug task forces were forced to shut
COUNTY LINES, SPRING 2018
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