Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Kenneth Binder, Sheriff
Subject: FY 2024 Urban Area Security Initiative Interagency Agreements
RECOMMENDATION:
title
Adopt a resolution authorizing the Sheriff or Sheriff’s designee to renew and execute interagency agreements with other public agencies, for a term of November 1, 2024 through July 31, 2026, each in an amount not to exceed $500,000, for a total amount not to exceed $5,857,265, utilizing solely the $5,857,265 of funding from the FY 2024 Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) grant for the purpose of reimbursing those agencies for the cost of personnel assigned to the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center (NCRIC).
body
BACKGROUND:
The County has previously received federal Department of Homeland Security grant funds through the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) program for which the City and County of San Francisco acts as the regional administrator and contracts with the recipient agencies for the distribution of funds.
On February 11, 2025, through Resolution No. 080926, the Board authorized execution of an agreement with the City and County of San Francisco for the distribution of FY 2024 Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) grant funds for the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center (NCRIC) in an amount not to exceed $5,857,265, and authorized the Sheriff or Sheriff’s designee to execute interagency agreements with other public agencies in amounts that do not exceed $350,000 each, utilizing solely the $5,857,265, for the purpose of reimbursing those agencies for the cost of personnel assigned to the NCRIC.
DISCUSSION:
A Department of Homeland Security - Federal Emergency Management Agency (DHS-FEMA) Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP) funding decision targeting “sanctuary jurisdictions” has impacted the operations of the NCRIC. On September 27, 2025, DHS-FEMA reduced approximately $240,000,000 in allocations from areas that DHS had previously identified as “sanctuary jurisdictions.”
In response to the reallocation of funding that had been identified in DHS-FEMA’s August 1, 2025 Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), the impacted states jointly filed suit in the case of Illinois v. Noem in the US District Court of Rhode Island. On December 22, 2025, the US District Court of Rhode Island released the court’s opinion that, “[to] hold hostage funding for programs like these based solely on what appear to be Defendants' political whims is unconscionable and, at least here, unlawful,” and ordered that the “Defendants are directed to amend HSGP awards issued to Plaintiffs to reflect the awards provided by the August 1, 2025 HSGP NOFO” and that “Defendants are directed to disburse, in the ordinary course, all allowable costs for which Plaintiffs seek payment from their fiscal year 2025 HSGP and EMPG awards on behalf of themselves and their sub-grantees.”
Despite the federal court opinion, the Sheriff’s Office has not received an award letter for the FY 2025 HSGP grant.
The NCRIC’s operations are critical to ensuring the safety and security of residents in the County and beyond. As discussed below, the NCRIC’s mission is to combat drug trafficking organizations, human trafficking organizations, illicit weapons trafficking organizations, terrorists, and other violent criminals.
To lessen the negative impact of the DHS-FEMA HSGP funding decision and continue its critical operations, the NCRIC has modified its FY 2024 UASI budget and is requesting this Board to authorize the Sheriff or Sheriff’s designee to renew and execute interagency agreements with other public agencies in amounts that do not exceed $500,000 each, utilizing solely the $5,857,265 of FY 2024 UASI grant funding, for the purpose of reimbursing those agencies for the cost of personnel assigned to the NCRIC.
The County Attorney has reviewed and approved the FY 2024 UASI grant agreement and resolution as to form.
PERFORMANCE MEASURE:
|
Measure |
Expected *CY 2026 |
Actual *CY 2025 |
|
Number of suspicious activity reports received |
1,400 |
1,281 |
|
Number of analytical and RFI case support provided |
150 |
136 |
*Calendar Year
COMMUNITY IMPACT:
The NCRIC will positively impact communities across Northern California through its diverse programs that protect privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties, while reducing the harmful impacts of crime on underserved areas and communities that are disparately impacted by the distribution of dangerous drugs, human trafficking, organized crime, and violent crime. The NCRIC programs are actively advancing a vision of equitable access to public safety resources, opportunities to live in communities free from the harmful impacts of crime and provide justice for every member of our diverse communities across the region.
The NCRIC will impact drug trafficking organizations, human trafficking organizations, illicit weapons trafficking organizations, terrorists, and other violent criminals through multi-disciplinary public safety partnerships, training, analysis, technology, and investigative support that will enhance community collaboration to identify, investigate, mitigate, and prevent threats to the communities that we serve in fifteen counties. NCRIC personnel have engaged with communities impacted by organized crime through community meetings, working groups, and direct outreach with community and public safety leaders.
Personnel have also been working on mitigating negative impacts that have hindered equitable outcomes for underserved and protected communities by providing federal, state, local, and tribal public safety partners with information sharing, analytical, technology, and training resources to focus the whole of government on the greatest threats to our most vulnerable communities, while protecting privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The NCRIC’s FY 2024 UASI grant agreement is for a term of November 1, 2024 through July 31, 2026, in an amount not to exceed $5,857,265. All costs associated with the NCRIC are 100% grant reimbursable from federal and state funds. There will be no Net County Cost.