BY JEFF CHUDZINSKINorth Country This Week

CANTON -- St. Lawrence County is slated to benefit from the seizure and forfeiture of assets through a federal Equitable Sharing Program with funds flowing into the District Attorney's Office.

According to District Attorney Gary Pasqua, the program distributes funds every year in the form of federal forfeiture money from the DEA or Border Patrol.

Legislators passed a resolution to accept the funds during the Dec. 9 Operations Committee meeting.

Pasqua commented that he is able to access an electronic system that tracks what was seized, when, by which agency and the status of the funds that might be coming from the seizure.

The system also details what money has been released to the Office and how it was spent, he said.

The resolution is a yearly action by the board to accept the funds, which come from an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, the county and District Attorney's Office.

In other action, legislators also approved a contract with NTS Data Services for the continued maintenance and support services related to the voter registration system.

Democratic Election Commissioner Jennie Bacon commented that the contract, which runs from Jan. 1, 2025 through Dec. 31, 2027, includes support related to  voter registration, signature digitization, full document imaging, election reporting and interface messaging.

"NTS Data Services has the knowledge, expertise, required software,

associated technology, and services to provide a quality solution for the needs of the Board of Elections," county officials said.