KINGMAN, Kan. — The Kingman County Sheriff’s Office has been awarded $117,688 from the Federal Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program, which provides criminal justice funding to state and local jurisdictions.

Sheriff Randy Hill was notified of the award in a letter from Attorney General Derek Schmidt, who chairs the Kansas Criminal Justice Coordinating Council. The Council oversees the JAG program and selects grant recipients.

The grant was used to purchase a radio console called MCC 5500 by Motorola that includes radio dispatching for law enforcement, eight fire departments and two Emergency Medical Services; paging for fire and EMS, and tornado sirens for seven jurisdictions in the county. The last console, a Zetron 4000, was purchased in 1994. In all, dispatchers monitor 11 frequencies.

“Equipping local law enforcement offices with modern technology is key to improving public safety in our state,” Schmidt said. “We are pleased to offer these grants to support local priorities.” The sheriff’s office also was awarded a grant in 2013 from the County Law Enforcement Equipment Fund. That grant totaled $25,723 and was used to purchase a fingerprint system and new computer hardware. The sheriff’s office also received the Federal Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) for 2015 in the amount of $56,428.

That grant was used to purchase licenses for a suite of software products called Enterpol.