ACCEPTING YOUR COPS OFFICEGRANT AWARD

Frequently Asked Questions

How do we accept this award?

To officially accept and begin your COPS Office grant award, your agency must access

www.cops.usdoj.gov and select the “Account Access” link in the upper right corner to log in, 

review, and electronically sign the award document (including grant terms and conditions)

within 90 days of the date shown on the award congratulatory letter.

The award document to accept your new grant can be found in the award package. You should

carefully read all award information prior to signing the award document and accepting your grant.

In order to electronically sign your award document, the appropriate account roles with esignature and user permissions must be established and assigned in the agency portal. The

Agency Portal Instruction Manual, currently available on the COPS Office website at

www.cops.usdoj.gov/pdf/UserGuide.pdf, has been enhanced to include a Quick Step Guide. This

guide will provide your agency with all of the information needed to successfully establish

account roles, assign user permissions in preparation to sign the award document, and manage 

many aspects of your COPS Office grant online. Please review and follow these steps carefully

as this is the only method for signing your award document. If you have any additional questions, 

please feel free to call the COPS Office Response Center at 800-421-6770. 

Who must sign the award document?

The authorized officials are the law enforcement and government executives who have ultimate

and final responsibility for all programmatic and financial decisions regarding this grant as

representatives of the legal grantee. COPS Office grants require that both the top law

enforcement executive (e.g., chief of police, sheriff, or equivalent) and the top government

executive (e.g., mayor, board chairman, or equivalent) sign the award document. For TRGP

grants, the government executive must sign the award document. For non-law enforcement

agencies (universities, etc.), the authorized officials are the programmatic and financial officials

who have the ultimate signatory authority to sign contracts on behalf of your organization.

Typically, these are the same executives named on your agency’s application. If you have any

questions as to who should sign the award, please contact your jurisdiction’s local legal advisor.

By when must the award document be signed?

Please electronically sign the award document and all award condition pages within 90 days of 

the date on the award congratulatory letter. Grant funds will not be released until we have

received your agency’s signed award document, your budget has received final clearance, and

any other relevant grant conditions particular to your agency have been satisfied. Failure to

submit your signed award document within the 90-day award acceptance period may result in

your award being withdrawn and the funds deobligated without additional notification. If your

agency requires an extension for accepting the award beyond the 90-day acceptance timeframe

(for example, if the governing body needs more time before giving final approval), please

submit a request through “Account Access” at www.cops.usdoj.gov. Be sure to explain the 

circumstances that prevent your agency from signing the award document within the 90-day 
period and identify the date by which the award document will be electronically signed. The

COPS Office will review such requests on a case-by-case basis. The COPS Office reserves the 

right to deny requests to extend the 90-day award acceptance period. 

What if the government or law enforcement executive information on the award document 

has changed?

Please review the information on your award document carefully. If the actual law enforcement

or government executive listed on the award document has changed, simply update that

information through “Account Access”. Instructions can be found at

www.cops.usdoj.gov/pdf/UserGuide.pdf. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to 

call the COPS Office Response Center at 800-421-6770.

Where can we find a list of conditions that apply to our grant?

Attached to your award document are the grant terms and conditions. The same conditions can

also be found in the Grant Owner’s Manual, which is available online at www.cops.usdoj.gov. In

addition, if applicable, the special award conditions or high risk conditions are included in the 

award document supplement. Please read and familiarize yourself with these conditions.

Where can we find the supporting paperwork for our award, such as the Grant Owner’s

Manual?

For your convenience, we have several supporting documents available online at 

www.cops.usdoj.gov to assist you in implementing your grant. These resources include the 

following:

• Grant Owner’s Manual

• Frequently Asked Questions about the Federal Financial Report (SF-425)

• Helpful Hints Guide for Completing the Federal Financial Report (SF-425)

• Fact Sheet—Online Filing of FFR SF-425 Quarterly Federal Financial Reports 

• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About the Grant Payment Request System (GPRS)

• Publication Request Form

• Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Fact Sheet

• Federal Civil Rights Statutes and Regulations Memorandum

We still have questions about our award. What do we do?

If you still have questions, please feel free to call the COPS Office Response Center at 800-421-

6770 and ask to speak with your state assigned Grant Program Specialist.

May 2016