Sue A. Lindgren, Bureau of Justice Statistics

February 1, 1990    NCJ 120070

The grant program is authorized by the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, as amended by P.L. 90-351. The amended legislation includes a formula to determine the amount of each State's grant and requires the passthrough of funds to local governments using VPT data. VPT data tell each State government how much of its total award it can use at the State level and how much it must pass through to local governments. The U.S. Census Bureau collects VPT data for BJS as part of the BJS Survey of Justice Expenditure and Employment. This survey collects extensive, detailed data for six justice functions (police protection, judicial, prosecution and legal services, public defense, corrections, and a residual "other" category). In 1988, the VPT share for local governments ranged from 24.6 percent in Alaska to 70.9 percent in Minnesota. Conversely, the State share in these States delimited the State-share range, from 75.4 percent in Alaska to 29.1 percent in Minnesota. Most States showed less dramatic differences, however, between the State and local shares, with most mirroring the national ratio of 59.4 percent local and 40.6 percent State. The VPT for individual States can vary widely from year to year, depending on outlays for prison construction, capital outlays for corrections, spending levels for all justice functions, and local government program funding levels. Procedures involved in the collection of expenditure data used to calculate VPT's are detailed. 2 tables, 3 figures.

Part of the Justice Expenditure and Employment Series

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