The Riverside County Sheriff's Office is seeking federal grant money for Temecula and 19 other cities across the county.

The agency announced Friday, Oct. 16, that it applied for Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) funds through the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance, according to a press release from the Sheriff's Office. The grant provides supplemental money for law enforcement, prosecution and court programs, corrections and community corrections programs that local budgets do not cover.

The grant requires no local match.

For Temecula residents, the funding means the city could receive federal dollars for equipment, supplies, retention of previously grant-funded personnel and overtime pay. Senior Administrative Services Analyst Yolanda Muro Guzmán is the reporting officer on the application.

The JAG formula distributes money based on population and Part I violent crime data reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Grant guidance requires the fiscal agent to deposit funds in a separate trust fund, the Sheriff's Office said.

Riverside County has held a "disparate area" designation from the DOJ for 13 years as of 2026. That label applies when the combined awards for individual cities within a county exceed 400% of the county's own award amount. Under that designation, the county acts as fiscal agent, submitting one joint application for all 20 jurisdictions.

The 20 eligible jurisdictions are Riverside County and the cities of Banning, Beaumont, Cathedral City, Coachella, Corona, Desert Hot Springs, Hemet, Indio, Jurupa Valley, Lake Elsinore, Menifee, Moreno Valley, Murrieta, Palm Desert, Palm Springs, Perris, Riverside, San Jacinto and Temecula.

Each jurisdiction has agreed through an inter-local agreement to give 10% of its JAG allocation to the county to cover administrative costs, the Sheriff's Office said. The county, as fiscal agent, prepares performance and financial reports, conducts budget reviews and reimburses allowable expenses after a city completes its approved activities.

The press release references a schedule of allocations by jurisdiction, but the specific dollar amounts were not available in the public notice.

Residents with questions can contact the Sheriff's Media Information Bureau at (951) 955-2427 or [email protected].