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