The New Jersey Police Chief Magazine | December 2021
Drunk Driving Enforcement Fund ( DDEF ) Reopens with New Rules and Procedures
Chief Michael Morris ( Ret .), Law Enforcement Liaison , NJ Division of Highway Traffic Safety
The DDEF Program has reopened to accept applications from December 1 , 2021 , for the State Fiscal Year 2022 . The 2022 fiscal year runs from July 1 , 2021 , thru June 30 , 2022 . Applications will be accepted for the 2022 fiscal year until March 1 , 2022 .
As a result of the audit and review of the DDEF program , many changes have been implemented for this upcoming year . HERE are the new Application and the complete Program Requirements and Application Instructions for your review prior to submitting a new DDEF application . The document outlines the mandatory requirements for obtaining and using DDEF funds Applicants are required to understand and adhere to the document completely . A copy should be provided to your municipal Chief Financial Officer as well .
The following is an overview of the major changes to the DDEF program ( This is only a summary . Requirements and Application Instructions ):
See the complete DDEF Program
· For this year ( SFY 2022 ), applications will be only accepted from December 1 until March 1st . In all future years , applications will only be accepted between October 1 and January 1 .
· An agency may only submit one application per state fiscal year .
· Regardless of submission date , all grant activities and purchases must be completed and funds spent prior to June 30 th . There will NOT be any extensions granted for any reason .
· Funds may accumulate on an agency ’ s behalf in the NJ Treasury DDEF account , but it is expected that agencies apply for and use funds for their DWI program regularly .
· Agencies must spend down any funds they have in their local DDEF account before receiving any new DDEF funds .
· Agencies that have an excess of funds locally must submit to DHTS a new , one-time , spending plan to disperse all remaining funds within their local account within 3 years .
· An exception may be requested for anticipated purchase of a new breath instrument , once approved , with restrictions ( see full document for details ).
· Reporting is required for all approved grants , past and present . You must attach with your application a copy of your agencies local DDEF budget account summary . It must show all deposits , payments , and activity on the account . Applications will not be reviewed if the reports are not attached .
· Court surcharges that have been collected on behalf of any County officer can only be requested by the County Prosecutor . However , operational use of those funds can then be designated by the Prosecutor to another County agency ( ex . County Sheriff ’ s office ).
· Funds may statutorily be spent in three ways only :
· Mandatory expenditures – at least 50 % of annual funds must be spent on officer overtime for DWI checkpoints or patrols . This requirement may not be spread out over more than 1 fiscal year .
· Optional expenditures – the remaining funds may be used for the following items to aid in enforcement and prosecution of DWI violations ONLY :
¨ Court overtime ;
¨ Audio / Visual equipment ;
¨ Breath test instruments ( already approved only ) and supplies ;
¨ Blood test kits ; and
¨ Safety equipment ( the only approved items are cones , flares , lighting , and reflective clothing ).
· Other Expenditures – any other equipment or activities not listed above must be approved specifically by the Attorney General of the State of New Jersey .
¨ NOTE : There are no approved purchases allowed under this category so each and every item requested here will be reviewed and forwarded by DHTS to the OAG for their review . Note : this will add significant time to your approval process .
· Any changes to an approved application must be resubmitted as a new application , including all agency signatures and DHTS approvals .
· Chiefs of Police and Sheriffs are NOT authorized to sign grant applications as the Authorizing Official . This signature is reserved for the senior local government official such as Mayor , Chief Administrator , etc . However , Chiefs and Sheriffs MAY sign as the Project Director .
· “ Special Grants ” are abolished in their entirety . Agencies are only eligible to receive funds specifically deposited into the DDEF on their behalf .
· Available funding amounts are available by emailing hts . ddef @ njoag . gov . They will no longer be posted online .
· Application submission must be in PDF format to hts . ddef @ njoag . gov . Faxes will no longer be accepted .
· Checks will no longer be issued to police departments . Instead , a fund transfer will be made to the local finance office in the same manner as any other State fund transfers .
DDEF questions can be directed to hts . ddef @ njoag . gov .
NOTE : The DHTS main webpage was recently migrated to a new website . Please update any bookmarks to our new website : https :// www . njoag . gov / about / divisions-and-offices / division-of-highway-traffic-safety-home /
* The old site is still online for the time being – do not use it as the links go to outdated DDEF documents .
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