$250,000 Meth Grant Awarded Sheriff’s Department

Sonora, CA — It´s official; the Tuolumne County Sheriff´s Department has a quarter of a million state dollars to fight the methamphetamine epidemic.

Sheriff Jim Mele says the grant is divided into three catagories: $79,000 for personnel services, $90,000 for operating expenses and $81,000 for equipment.

One member of the Sonora Police Department will join T.N.T., the Tuolumne Narcotics Team, on Monday. This individual will take the place of a Sheriff´s Department deputy that has been assigned to Stanislaus County.

Assistant District Attorney Mike Knowles says 75-80 percent of all cases handled by his office are methamphetamine related. The District Attorney´s office will not be receiving any funding in the first year of the grant.

Undersheriff Lee Sanford says there is a 90 percent chance the grant will be renewed for a second year.

Mele, Knowles and Sonora Police Chief Mace McIntosh all reiterated that this grant will allow for a true cross jurisdictional effort in the fight against methamphetamine use in the county.

Written by Bill Johnson