Almost as important as the funding is the fact that the money goes to a regional group, which then has to decide together how to distribute that money, said Dave Owens, Kane County's director of the office of emergency services. Because of that, law enforcement officials from the five counties in their region meet monthly, which builds their relationships, and learn what each of their neighboring counties already owns.

"We knew everyone before, but we really know each other now, and that helps everyone work better," Owens said.

Although there are no "critical infrastructure" facilities in Kane, it is home to a large portion of Lake Powell and a primary north-south travel route, U.S. 89. It is also a very rural area with a small population and a very small budget, since 96 percent of the land is federally owned and thus tax-exempt.

Like Daggett and other small counties, the homeland security money allowed Kane County to purchase important communications equipment and new technology, as well as heavy equipment that was unaffordable before.

"There are a lot of things we really needed that we could never afford," Owens said. "Even when it comes to firefighting, we didn't have the kinds of equipment used by most other counties."

Urban counties have utilized their money differently, since many of them have the budgets — out of necessity, in many cases — to supply their officers with the most current technologies (laptops or radios, for example) or safety equipment, such as hazardous materials suits or SWAT trucks. Because of that, in places like Salt Lake County, the money was spent on big-ticket items, such as a new communications truck.

"Because we're a well-equipped department, we were kind of forced to look at the bigger items because they fit our needs," said Lt. Robert Sampson, who oversees the homeland security money for the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office. "If we had needed radios, I suspect that those would've been bought first."

Like the rural counties, however, departments within the region focused on buying items that would provide the biggest benefit to everyone, Sampson said. "Because there is a small pool of money coming into Utah — and it will probably get smaller — we wanted to make sure we took a holistic approach."

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E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com