Authority: Title 9.1, Chapter 1, Article 8, Code of Virginia.
A. Funds in this item are appropriated pursuant to the provisions of Title 9.1, Chapter 1, Article 8, Code of Virginia (House Bill 599) and shall be distributed to localities with qualifying police departments.
B. For purposes of receiving funds in accordance with this program, it is the intention of the General Assembly that the Town of Boone's Mill shall be considered to have had a police department in operation since the 1980-82 biennium and is therefore eligible for financial assistance under Title 9.1, Chapter 1, Article 8, Code of Virginia (House Bill 599).
C. It is the intent of the General Assembly that state funding provided to localities operating police departments be used to fund local public safety services. Funds provided in this item shall not be used to supplant the funding provided by localities for public safety services.
D. Out of this appropriation, an additional $3,460,129 the first year from the general fund is provided for local law enforcement agencies which are eligible to receive financial assistance under Title 9.1, Chapter 1, Article 8, Code of Virginia. The Department shall distribute this additional amount using a methodology based on the incidence of violent crimes as reported to the Virginia Department of State Police. It is the intent of the General Assembly that these additional funds be allocated only to those local law enforcement agencies that would otherwise lose funding as a result of updated input data in the current House Bill 599 formula, and that any funding received by these local law enforcement agencies through this additional appropriation be used entirely for local law enforcement activities that respond to or reduce the incidence of violent crime. Prior to the distribution of these additional funds, the Secretary of Public Safety shall provide the Chairmen of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees with a report on the proposed distribution methodology and the amount proposed for each eligible law enforcement agency.
E. The Secretaries of Public Safety and Finance shall review the current methodology for the distribution of state aid to localities with police departments (HB 599 of 1979) to determine whether or not the enabling legislation and funding formula warrant modification. Copies of this review shall be provided to the Chairmen of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees by October 16, 2006.
F. Effective July 1, 2007, the director of the Department of Criminal Justice Services is authorized to withhold reimbursements due a locality under Title 9.1, Chapter 1, Article 8, Code of Virginia, upon notification from the Superintendent of State Police that there is reason to believe that crime data reported by the locality to the Department of State Police in accordance with § 52-28, Code of Virginia, is missing, incomplete or incorrect. Upon subsequent notification by the superintendent that the data is accurate, the director shall make reimbursement of withheld funding due the locality when such corrections are made within the same fiscal year that funds have been withheld.