The Augusta County Sheriff's Office announced last week that they will receive a sizable grant from the State of Virginia to fund 12 new school resource officers in the county. In June 2022, Governor youngkin's office announced more than $37 million dollars would be made available in Criminal Justice Grant Funding, including funding for 86 SRO positions and 15 SSO positions for FY23 in school divisions throughout the Commonwealth.
In July of 2022, the Augusta County Sheriff’s Office submitted a proposal and grant application to the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services for this FY23 SRO/SSO Incentive Grant Program. This funding was made available for new SRO or SSO positions on a 4-year grant cycle, with this grant covering the first year of personnel costs for new positions, with follow-on continuing grant opportunities for funding positions over 4 years.
From the Sheriff's Office FB page: "The Augusta County Sheriff’s Office is pleased to announce that our agency has been awarded a grant for the Augusta County SRO Program. This grant award totals $778,583.00. These DCJS grant funds will be utilized to hire, train and deploy twelve (12) new School Resource Officer positions for Augusta County Public Schools."
"This grant funding will greatly assist our agency in fulfilling our goal of having a School Resource Officer assigned to all Augusta County Public Schools."
County Administrator, Timothy K. Fitzgerald, added, “We are grateful for the state funding that has helped ease the burden on local government and taxpayers for this important school safety initiative.”