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On Monday, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey announced the start of the Sheriffs’ Grants for all 67 counties in the State of Alabama to offset losses due to the elimination of concealed firearms permit requirements.

Sheriffs’ Departments in each of Alabama’s counties will be receiving funds quarterly beginning in the first quarter of 2023. The amount of funds each county receives is based on the amount of money that county’s sheriff’s department collected on pistol permit fees in 2022.

“A couple of core tenants of the Ivey Administration is that we back the blue in the strongest way possible and that we support upholding our citizens’ Second Amendment rights,” Ivey said. “As we have amended Alabama law to help our gun owners, we also worked to ensure our sheriff’s received their critical funds, and I am proud that these grants will do that. The Sheriffs’ Grants will provide them with funding for training, equipment and other needs not provided by county commissions in their annual appropriations. We are proud to support the vital work our sheriffs’ departments do on a daily basis.”

The grants, called the Local Government Pistol Permit Revenue Loss Fund, will be administered by the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA). In 2022, Alabama passed a law that eliminated the requirement for Alabamians to purchase a permit to carry a concealed handgun. Sheriff’s offices handled those permits and generated revenue from the permits. According to a report from AL.com, some counties will lose more than $100,000 annually in revenue due to the new law. This new grant fund is an effort to offset those losses for sheriffs’ offices in the state.

“ADECA intends to carry out our duties in this matter to ensure that Alabama’s sheriffs’ offices are compensated for their losses based on those shortages provided in the data,” ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell said.