Kirkland’s first federal stimulus money may come in the form of increased public safety.

The City of Kirkland will hold a public hearing on both a new court security program and applying for additional grant money for more police at a City Council meeting April 7, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

According to a police memo from Kirkland Chief Eric Olsen and Capt. Bill Hamilton, the stimulus funding would pay for a city proposal to provide improved security at the Kirkland Municipal Court Facility. The money is appropriated as part of the Recovery Act’s Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne JAG) Program. Under the funding formula, Kirkland qualifies for up to $52,536.

Police say the new security detail at the court is needed because of ongoing safety concerns there. From 2005 to 2008, municipal court civilian security staff confiscated 61 knives, 26 box cutters eight pairs of scissors and seven screw drivers from people entering the courthouse. Kirkland Police Department responded to the court 232 times last year for a range of incidents.

Olsen and Hamilton are also asking for guidance on asking the Clinton-era Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) hiring program for a grant to fund police officers, a valuable option if the city is forced to cut spending on public safety.

Handling some of the grant requests for Washington state, Department of Justice policy analyst Jeffrey Felten-Green said the Byrne JAG program and COPS are intended, first and foremost, to spur the hiring of police officers.

“We just want to get the money out there to help people start new programs,” he said. “To just get things going again.”

The deadline to submit the a proposal for the COPS program is April 14 and the JAG grant deadline is May 18.

City Intergovernmental Relations Manager Erin Leonhart also expected to report at the April 7 meeting Kirkland is eligible for approximately $200,000 in grant money through the US Dept. of Energy.

Earlier this year, projects from Kirkland’s Capital Improvement Projects – such as a sidewalks project in the Highlands neighborhood – went unfunded by the stimulus money in a competitive bidding process. But unlike the earlier projects, the grant money is guaranteed, provided the city can get their grant proposal accepted.