BEAUMONT, Texas — Senate Bill 22 has officially been signed into law and Jefferson County is prepared for the bill to provide more funding to their departments.
SB 22 creates a grant program to provide additional money to qualified sheriff's, constable's, and prosecutor's offices in rural counties.
Up to $500,000 could be handed to qualified law enforcement agencies in Texas.
The Jefferson County District Attorney's Office is just one of the agencies excited to receive grant money.
"What Senate Bill 22 does is gives counties with certain populations additional funding where they can hire law enforcement officers or they can hire prosecutors which is paid for by the state and not by the county," said Jefferson County District Attorney Keith Giblin.
This bill can be used for both hiring and buying new safety equipment, cars and firearms for sheriff's offices.
"It's earmarked for salaries for prosecutors, for investigators, victim witness coordinators and people such as that," Giblin said.
The district attorney's office wants to use the grant as efficiently as possible.
"A good long look at where we can get the most bang for our buck and target that money in that area," Giblin said.
Giblin says keeping qualified lawyers is the problem.
"We're very good at recruiting top notch prosecutors and law students out of law school and other attorneys also. But as you may understand the pay is not always as lucrative as it is for private law firms."
They hope the money will entice lawyers to stay.
"We want people to come work with us and stay and make it a career. Learn the community, learn the city, learn the people," Giblin said.
Giblin says more prosecutors means cases move faster and gives resources to put two or three prosecutors on major cases.
Their main goal is to help lower the crime rate.
“Having good experienced prosecutors in the courtroom. You know some cases are difficult to win sometimes, issues with witnesses, issues with evidence and things like that," Giblin said. "When we keep and retain, hire and retain the very best lawyers that we can that lowers the crime rate.”
Senate Bill 22 allows for more qualified people to help keep bad guys off the streets.
"It really puts extra, extra men and women on the streets as police officers and extra lawyers in our courtroom to prosecute cases so we're very excited," Giblin said.