Dallas County Commission

Dallas County Commission, a county government entity headquartered in Selma, Alabama, acts as a federal grant recipient delivering public safety, criminal justice, and emergency management programs to its rural jurisdiction. The commission does not hold federal contracts and operates entirely within the federal grant ecosystem, with 33% of its recent award footprint as a prime recipient and 67% as a sub-recipient flowing through state intermediaries and non-profit prime grantees.

The commission's grant portfolio centers on substance abuse treatment, violent crime reduction, family preservation, and emergency management services in Dallas County. As a prime recipient, Dallas County Commission holds five active Department of Justice grants totaling roughly $2.3 million in combined obligated value: a $764,508 award from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (CFDA 16.738) running through September 2026 for the Dallas County Family Preservation Program, a trauma-informed alternative sentencing initiative for justice-involved parents and their families; a $750,000 Bureau of Justice Assistance Treatment Court Discretionary Grant (CFDA 16.585) through September 2026 supporting the Dallas County Adult Drug Treatment Court, which serves 35 individuals per year with employment readiness training, transportation assistance, and medication-assisted treatment; a $300,000 Bureau of Justice Assistance award (CFDA 16.039, Rural Violent Crime Initiative) for a comprehensive violent crime reduction strategy including an investigator hire and law enforcement training; a $250,000 Bureau of Justice Assistance Congressionally Recommended Award (CFDA 16.753) awarded July 2024 for purchase of five vehicles for the Dallas County Sheriff's Office; and a $160,000 Federal Highway Administration Safe Streets and Roads for All grant (CFDA 20.939) awarded June 2026 through June 2028 for development of a Comprehensive Safety Action Plan targeting roadway fatalities and serious injuries.

The commission appears as a sub-recipient on 30 awards spanning the past five years, primarily flowing through the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs as the prime grantee. These sub-awards fund drug task force operations, drug court sustainment, domestic violence victim services, juvenile justice intervention programs (including the D.I.R.E.C.T. program for justice-involved youth), mentoring initiatives, and emergency management sustainment. A sub-award dated November 2024 under a New York University prime (Project H.O.P.E.) targets recidivism reduction through community supervision case management, employment readiness, and vital-documents assistance for justice-involved individuals in Dallas County.

Federal Emergency Management Agency awards dominate the top customers by award count (16 awards), driven primarily by sub-recipient awards for emergency protective measures and local emergency management agency sustainment following disaster declarations. The Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs and its sub-components account for 21 awards, anchoring the commission's criminal justice and substance abuse portfolio. Recent activity shows four awards in 2023 and 2024, three in 2025, and two through mid-2026, with only one award carrying an ultimate completion date within the next twenty-four months.