§12106 Formula for Grants

Summary

Eighty-five percent of the money for violent offender incarceration grants is split two ways. First, each State that qualifies under the grant rules gets a small fixed share: 0.75% each (the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands get 0.05% each). No State can get more than 9% of this 85% pool. After those fixed shares, the rest is given to qualifying States based on their share of Part 1 violent crimes reported to the FBI over the past three years compared to the average for all qualifying States. Fifteen percent of the money goes to States that meet a different qualifying rule. Each such State gets 3.0% (the same four territories get 0.03% each), and the remainder is divided by the same three‑year crime-share method. Money for truth‑in‑sentencing grants is split among qualifying States by each State’s share of Part 1 violent crimes over the past three years, but no State can get more than 25% of that pool. If a State’s three‑year data are missing or unreliable, the Attorney General uses the best comparable data from the previous year. For States in a regional compact, the formula is applied to each member State, and the compact may receive the total of those amounts.