County Of Claiborne

County Of Claiborne, doing business as Claiborne County Government, is a U.S. local government entity (county) headquartered in Tazewell, Tennessee that acts as a federal grant sub-recipient and direct prime grant recipient, receiving federal pass-through and direct funding for law enforcement, education, disaster relief, and victim services programs. The county operates almost entirely as a sub-recipient (90% of recent awards), receiving allocations and reimbursements from Tennessee state agencies that serve as prime grantees under federal grants, with a small portfolio of direct prime awards from federal agencies.

Claiborne County's grant activity concentrates heavily in K–12 education and emergency services. The top five funding program areas, accounting for 65% of recent awards, are Victims of Crime (22 awards through Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration), Federal Emergency Management Agency Headquarters Financial Assistance Awards (20 awards through Tennessee Emergency Management Agency), Department of Education Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (20 awards through Tennessee Department of Education), Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (16 awards through Tennessee Department of Education for National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program reimbursements), and Department of Education Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (10 awards through Tennessee Department of Education for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act funding). The only direct prime federal grant award in recent activity is a $865,167 cooperative agreement from the Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Assistance under the Law Enforcement Support for Combatting Criminal Aliens, Drug, and Human Trafficking program (CFDA 16.076), awarded June 1, 2026, running through May 31, 2029. That award funds Claiborne County to assign or hire qualified prosecutors serving as Special Assistant United States Attorneys to investigate and prosecute fraud, crimes committed by aliens, and drug and human trafficking crimes in coordination with federal authorities, with work performed in Tazewell, Tennessee.

The county's sub-recipient portfolio spans multiple Tennessee state agencies as prime grantees: the Department of Education (National School Lunch Program reimbursements, special education, career technical education, rural education, and professional development initiatives); Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration (Victims of Crime Act services); Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (pandemic emergency protective measures and disaster relief); Tennessee Department of Health (local health services and immunization grants); Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (Hurricane Helene disaster debris and contaminated site cleanup under the American Relief Act of 2025); and Tennessee Department of Education (Federal Fiscal Year 2025 school nutrition program allocations). Activity has grown from five awards in 2022 to twenty-four in 2024, settling to eighteen in 2025 and nine in the current year. Total obligated dollars across all awards stands at $49.4 million across 135 awards since 2008, with sixteen distinct customer agencies served. Claiborne County holds no federal contract vehicles and does not operate as a contractor; its federal presence is entirely grant-based and rooted in local government service delivery — education, public safety, emergency management, and victim services — within Claiborne County and the surrounding East Tennessee region.