PRESIDIO COUNTY — The Presidio County crime victims advocate program was on the verge of being abandoned — at least temporarily — this month but was revived at the last minute after the presumptive county attorney taking office in January made a last-minute trip to El Paso to lobby for a grant to fund the program next year.
Presidio County had received a grant for this fiscal year to hire a staff person to serve as a crime victim advocate based in the county attorney’s office. That advocate assists victims — often those who have faced family violence — by serving as a point of contact with the prosecutor’s office and referring victims to a variety of services they may need, such as counseling or relocation. County Attorney Rod Ponton said that he fired that advocate earlier this year over performance issues, but he also submitted an application for the grant that funds the position for the next fiscal year.
However, when contacted by the grant coordinator — the Rio Grande Council of Governments (RioCOG) — about attending a meeting with RioCOG grant applicants in early April, Ponton responded that the county would no longer be seeking the grant because of concerns about meeting a required match with local money. Ponton said the 20% match required seemed to be a sticking point for some county commissioners facing ongoing budget problems. “I didn’t have full commissioners support, so I pulled the grant.”
However, on February 14, the Commissioners Court passed a resolution brought forth by Ponton “approv[ing] the Resolution for the Victim’s Coordinator Grant 2024-2035. Application for Grant.” Commissioner David Beebe made the motion on that resolution, which was passed unanimously.
The county is asking for $45,228 in grant money for the 2025 application, with a local match of
$11,307. The funding comes from the federal Crime Victims Fund established by the 1984 Victims of Crime Act, which uses fines and penalties to support the grants. Ponton said he didn’t have concerns about a local match because the county could use state money from SB 22 — state grants to counties for law enforcement and prosecutors — to cover the entire position. His only concern was finding a new person for the advocate job, a position he said was hard to fill and takes a committed person with specific capabilities.
Ponton said that since there is money left in the program after the recent coordinator’s termination, Park could always enter office in January, hire a new coordinator using SB 22 money, and then apply for the following year’s grant to fund the program for fiscal year 2026.
It’s also unclear if Ponton, even if he runs the advocate program for the county, had the ability to withdraw the grant, according to Marfa attorney Blair Park. Park won the Democratic Party primary for county attorney over Ponton in March, and with no Republican contender in November, will assume her new role in January 2025. She said RioCOG responded to Ponton by email saying he wasn’t authorized to pull the grant application since County Judge Jose Portillo was listed as the grant authorizer on the application.
Park said she heard at the last minute that a representative from Presidio County would need to be at the RioCOG meeting in El Paso on April 3 to speak on the county’s grant, so she jumped in her car and headed to serve that role. Except for the first four months of the fiscal year starting on September 1, Park will be responsible for managing the advocate position for fiscal year 2025 when she takes office in January.
Park said she also is aware that SB 22 funds can cover an advocate position, and that she’s talked to Judge Portillo who is supportive of the grant application and continuing the program without any lapse of any kind in grant funding. RioCOG will make decisions on grant winners and amounts in late August or early September.
Beebe said he never voiced any opposition about applying for the grant and is unsure who, if anyone did, since everyone knew that SB 22 money could be used for the position if needed. No one was asking for the county not to apply for the grant, and the county could always say no to the money in the future if a local match was an issue. Beebe acknowledged that the advocate role is a hard position to fill, but that it is a worthwhile program. “That position does serve an important purpose, and there should be a good person in it,” he said.