Item:
Title
Approval of FY 2026-2027 Governor’s Highway Safety Program (GHSP) Grant Funding Resolution, Funding Two Deputies with 75% County Funding and 25% Federal, as well as Reduce Sheriff’s Office Authorized FTE Count by One Position
Body
Date of BOCC Meeting: September 14, 2026
Request for Board Action:
Agenda Text
The Board is requested to approve a one-year extension of the Governor’s Highway Safety Program (GHSP) Grant for the Sheriff’s Office and have the Chairman sign the Resolution, and approve a reduction of one position from the Sheriff’s Office authorized full-time equivalent positions. In FY22, the Governor’s Highway Safety Program awarded the Durham County Sheriff’s Office a four-year step-down reimbursement grant that requires a local match at varying percentages each year to fund three sworn deputy positions to work traffic enforcement. This renewal, and all subsequent renewals, will require a local match of seventy-five percent (75%) and a federal allocation of twenty-five percent (25%). This action will reduce the Sheriff’s Offices’ original (3) grant funded deputy positions to (2) two grant funded deputy positions. For FY 2026-27, the local match will be in the amount of $143,251.00 (75%) and a federal allocation in the amount of $47,750.00 (25%); for a total amount of $191,001.00. The BOCC initially approved these funds on September 13, 2021 (21-0550).
The Governor’s Highway Safety Program helps fund law enforcement agencies to reduce traffic crashes in North Carolina. The Sheriff’s Office will work to reduce traffic accidents across Durham County in the following categories:
• Overall Fatalities
• Alcohol Fatalities
• Unrestrained Fatalities
• Speed Related Fatalities
• Motorcycle Fatalities
• Teen Fatalities
• Pedestrian Fatalities
Alignment with Strategic Plan: This item aligns with the County’s Strategic Goal 3: Safe Community.
Resource Persons: Michael Hogan, Lieutenant, Durham County Sheriff’s Office; Clarence Birkhead, Durham County Sheriff.
County Manager’s Recommendation: The County Manager recommends that the Board approve a one-year extension of the Governor’s Highway Safety Program (GHSP) Grant for the Sheriff’s Office and have the Chairman sign the Resolution and approve a reduction of one position from the Sheriff’s Office authorized full-time equivalent positions. In FY22, the Governor’s Highway Safety Program awarded the Durham County Sheriff’s Office a four-year step-down reimbursement grant that requires a local match at varying percentages each year to fund three sworn deputy positions to work traffic enforcement. This renewal, and all subsequent renewals, will require a local match of seventy-five percent (75%) and a federal allocation of twenty-five percent (25%). This action will reduce the Sheriff’s Offices’ original (3) three granted funded deputy positions to (2) two grant funded deputy positions. For FY27, the local match will be in the amount of $143,251.00 (75%) and a federal allocation in the amount of $47,750.00 (25%); for a total amount of $191,001.00. The BOCC initially approved these funds on September 13, 2021 (21-0550).
Signature
County Manager: ____________________________