The Missouri Department of Public Safety announced the availability of up to $20,000 in grant funding opportunities for local law enforcement, fire service and EMS agencies. The department encouraged interested agencies to act swiftly as the deadline to apply for the grants is December 5, 2022. A total of $30 million in grant funding is available, $10 million for each public safety discipline.

The three grants are:
-Peace Officer Grant (POG), $10 million in total grant funding.
-Fire Protection Grant (FPG), $10 million in total grant funding.
-Emergency Medical Service Providers Grant (EMSPG), $10 million in total grant funding.

Eligible grant expenditures include equipment, supplies, training/travel, personnel and benefits. Some equipment may have specific requirements to be eligible for funding. The grants require a local match of 50 percent (for example, if the total cost of a project were $40,000, the local recipient would be responsible for $20,000 and the ARPA share of the grant would be $20,000). Local ARPA grant funds may be utilized for the local match. In-kind matches (soft match) must be directly related to the project and may be retroactive to March 2020. No supplanting is permitted.

Applications will only be accepted through the Missouri Department of Public Safety online WebGrants System: https://dpsgrants.dps.mo.gov/index.do.

Grant recipients will be notified of their awards in December 2022. Grant funds much be expended by April 30, 2023. The funding for these public safety grants is made available through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and was made possible through Missouri House Bill 3020. The Department of Public Safety is the grant administrator.