DeKalb County Mayor Tim Stribling and Sheriff Patrick Ray have announced that DeKalb County will be awarded a Facilities Confinement Grant that will help the Sheriff’s Department and the DeKalb Jail.

“Last fall I was contacted by the Upper Cumberland Development District and told there was a Facilities Confinement Grant that DeKalb could apply for,” Mayor Stribling said. “The grant was through the Tennessee Department of Health, and there was no match requirement for the county, so I contacted Sheriff Patrick Ray and asked if he would be interested in it.”

“The grant is about the impact of COVID-19 in the DeKalb County Jail and the Sheriff’s Department,” Sheriff Ray explained. “What we applied for were things that could combat that.”

“We were able to get four patrol cars through the grant, and a booking system that we had talked to the County Commission about last year that we were going to have to replace because the booking system was about to be obsolete,” Ray explained.

“We will also receive two HVAC units for the Jail Annex, and 30 laptop computers for the department’s patrol cars. The computers allow deputies to get online, look at the new booking system, and see prior bookings,” Sheriff Ray said. The computers would enable officers to identify someone, as well as allowing the department to go paperless with reports, as well as assign cases.

“This grant is going to save local taxpayers, with the total approved funds of $264,446,” Ray continued. “I appreciate Mayor Stribling thinking of us at the Sheriff’s Department and the Jail and helping us get this grant. It’s stuff that we really needed.”

“We’re very fortunate to have the Upper Cumberland Development District to help us write grants,” Mayor Stribling explained. “Anytime there’s a grant available, whether it’s through them or not, they are always ready and willing to help us get the grant. They were a big part in us getting the grant and I felt like it was something DeKalb County should take advantage of.”