Byrne JAG Grants 2026: Deadlines, Allocations, Awards

Byrne JAG source review, Grantsights, November 6, 2026: Grantsights checked the FY2026 Local JAG notice (opens in a new tab) and the FY2025 and FY2026 State notices against BJA's JAG overview (opens in a new tab), the FY2026 allocations page (opens in a new tab), the August 2026 JAG FAQs (opens in a new tab), OJP's legal notices page (opens in a new tab), the statute at 34 U.S.C. 10156 (opens in a new tab), Grants.gov listings and federal award records. Where official sources stop: BJA doesn't say when FY2026 awards will go out, why FY2025 ran late, what happens to local allocations nobody claims, or how your state's pass-through competition picks winners. Your State Administering Agency (SAA) answers the last one.

Byrne JAG Grants Status on November 6, 2026

BJA runs 2 JAG notices each year, one for the 56 states and territories and one for local governments, and both FY2026 notices posted on August 25, 2026. The table shows each notice as BJA's pages and the Grants.gov listing (opens in a new tab) showed it when Grantsights checked.

According to BJA's FY2026 Local Formula page (opens in a new tab), "the deadline to submit the first part of your application in Grants.gov has passed," and a government that skipped that step can't apply in JustGrants. BJA's FY2025 Local page (opens in a new tab) shows the April 28 and May 1, 2026 dates after an April 23 extension, while that notice's federal listing shows a later close date of May 20, 2026. The FY2026 State page (opens in a new tab) lists September 18 and September 25, 2026.

According to the OJP award data, the FY2025 state awards total $199,222,278, matching the notice to the dollar, and the largest local award, New York City's $4,098,693, equals the notice's ceiling. So the FY2025 money was awarded even though USASpending.gov (opens in a new tab) showed no FY2025 JAG award signed through November 6, 2026. Federal spending data simply hasn't caught up: a Grantsights query for any Assistance Listing 16.738 award signed from October 1, 2025 to November 6, 2026 found only 4 older crisis intervention awards, each listed at $0.

How the JAG Formula Moves the Money

The formula has 4 steps, and no applicant writes its way into a bigger share. According to the statute at 34 U.S.C. 10156, half of each year's appropriation goes to states by population and half by their average of Part 1 violent crimes over the 3 most recent years reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program. No state gets less than 0.25% of the total. Then 60% of each state's amount goes to the state government and 40% to local governments, except in DC and the territories.

Inside the 40%, each local government's share follows its own 3-year violent crime average. The August 2026 JAG FAQs say a local government gets a direct award from BJA only if its formula share is $10,000 or more. Shares under $10,000 go into the state's award, and the state must spend them on those small places or on state police serving them. Separately, the state must pass a set share of its 60%, the Variable Pass-Through (VPT) that the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) calculates from criminal justice spending, down to local governments.

According to the BJS technical report for FY2025 (opens in a new tab), published October 2026, FY2025 allocations came to about $302.0 million: $295.5 million to states and $6.5 million to territories and DC. California ($33.7 million), Texas ($25.4 million) and Florida ($18.1 million) were largest, and 1,649 local governments were eligible directly or through a joint award. BJA's FY2026 table totals $298,128,560: $201,610,091 for states and $96,518,469 for 1,190 local awards.

Disparate groups: when the county and city must apply together

The statute adds a twist for counties that pay for jails and prosecution. If a county bears more than 50% of those costs for crimes reported in a city, and the city's share is over 150% of the county's (or several cities together top 400%), they're "disparate" and must file 1 joint application with a memorandum of understanding splitting the money. The county may have no allocation of its own and still be owed part of the city's.

These rows come from BJA's FY2026 Texas local allocation table.

A common mistake is a city filing alone for its listed direct amount when it sits in a shaded disparate group. The FY2026 notice says only one member may apply as fiscal agent for the whole group.

Who Can Apply, and Through Whom

Only 3 kinds of applicant get JAG money straight from BJA, and the list is fixed each year by the formula.

1. States and territories. The FY2026 State notice (opens in a new tab) limits eligibility to the designated SAA in each of the 50 states, DC, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands. OJP keeps the list of State Administering Agencies (opens in a new tab).
2. Local governments on the allocation list. The FY2026 Local notice names county, city, township and special district governments, plus law enforcement or judicial districts with their own budget and taxing power, such as a Louisiana district attorney or parish sheriff. An application from a government not on the list "will not be accepted for funding."
3. Federally recognized tribes that perform law enforcement functions and appear on the list. In FY2025, at least 6 tribal governments got direct awards, including the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians ($21,977) and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe ($58,979). The grants for Native American tribes guide covers the tribal programs with more money.

Everyone else reaches JAG through a subaward. According to the statute at 34 U.S.C. 10152 (opens in a new tab), a state or local recipient may contract with or subaward to "neighborhood or community-based organizations that are private and nonprofit." The JAG FAQs add two limits: the project must fit a JAG program area, and a state can't count nonprofit subawards toward its required pass-through without a BJA waiver. For a reentry nonprofit, a victim services group or a youth diversion program, the realistic door is the SAA's annual JAG competition or a partnership with a city or county recipient. An individual can't apply for JAG at all.

What JAG Pays For: 11 Program Areas and the Prohibited List

The FY2026 notices list 11 program areas, 2 more than the 9 in the 2024 edition of the U.S. Code. The extra 2 are programs to buy and operate unmanned aircraft systems (UAS, or drones) for public safety and approved counter-drone systems.

1. Law enforcement
2. Prosecution and courts
3. Prevention and education
4. Corrections and community corrections
5. Drug treatment and enforcement
6. Planning, evaluation and technology improvement
7. Crime victim and witness programs (not compensation)
8. Mental health programs, including crisis intervention teams
9. State crisis intervention court proceedings, such as mental health, drug and veterans courts and extreme risk protection order programs
10. Drones for public safety
11. Counter-drone systems on the approved technology list

BJA's prohibited expenditure guidance page (opens in a new tab) links the full list and the waiver process. The FY2026 notices also put 3 kinds of activity out of scope at any tier: anything that impedes federal immigration enforcement or fails to comply with 8 U.S.C. 1373, anything that violates federal civil rights law, and legal services for people unlawfully present except protection orders for crime victims.

One rule surprises congregations. The FY2026 notices encourage JAG for "Safe Houses of Worship," but the statute bars security equipment for any nongovernmental group that isn't in criminal justice. A city can use JAG for police overtime to patrol a synagogue; the synagogue's own cameras and doors belong in the Nonprofit Security Grant Program.

How to Apply: Registration, Two Federal Steps and JustGrants

A JAG application has 2 federal steps and 1 local one that's easy to miss. The SAM.gov registration guide walks through getting a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), and the FY2026 Local notice told applicants to start their SAM.gov registration or renewal by September 1, 2026, and finish no later than September 9.

1. Check the allocation list. Find your state's table on BJA's allocations page (opens in a new tab). If you're in a shaded disparate group, agree on a fiscal agent and sign the memorandum first.
2. Give your governing body 30 days. Under 34 U.S.C. 10153 (opens in a new tab), the application must go to the city council, county board or its designee at least 30 days before submission, be made public, and be open to comment. If the 30 days aren't done by the deadline, the JAG FAQs say you can still apply, but the award will carry a withholding condition until the certification comes in.
3. File the SF-424 on Grants.gov (opens in a new tab) by the first deadline.
4. Finish in JustGrants: a proposal abstract of up to 2,000 characters, the JAG survey, a financial management questionnaire, a 3-part proposal narrative (need, project design, capability), a budget that flags administrative costs, the chief executive's certifications, and any drone, body-worn camera, body armor or extreme risk protection order certifications that apply.

State applications add a statewide strategic plan, which the statute requires be updated every 5 years, and a 10-page cap on the narrative. Missing attachments don't sink a local application: the FY2026 Local notice says OJP will still issue the award but may withhold funds until the item arrives.

Award Conditions and the Court Orders Behind Them

OJP's legal notices page, updated October 27, 2026, lists at least 7 notices that limit which FY2025 and FY2026 award conditions DOJ will enforce. They matter more than usual: the FY2026 notices list "directly supporting law enforcement operations (including immigration law enforcement operations)" as an OJP priority, and the awards carry immigration-related and civil rights conditions that recipients accept when they sign.

• All FY2025 JAG recipients. According to DOJ's notice, which cites an injunction in City of Chicago v. Garland (N.D. Ill. 2022), the department won't implement or enforce 4 "noninterference with federal law enforcement" conditions on FY2025 State and Local JAG awards, covering law-enforcement-sensitive information, communication restrictions, notice of scheduled release and interrogation of certain aliens.
• Specific states. Separate notices cover California and its political subdivisions, Illinois, Colorado, and Oregon with its subdivisions and Portland, each tied to an earlier court order.
• 13 named localities, FY2025 and FY2026. While a preliminary injunction issued July 9, 2026 in City of Fresno v. Mullin (N.D. Cal.) is in effect, DOJ says it won't enforce the immigration certification, the noninterference conditions or a civil rights certification for Fresno, Los Angeles County, San Diego County, Beaverton, Monroe County (New York) and 8 others.
• 9 named localities, FY2025 and FY2026. Under City of Seattle v. Trump (W.D. Wash.), DOJ won't enforce the civil rights certification for Seattle, Cleveland, Columbus, Durham, Portland, Allegheny County, Hennepin County, Prince George's County and Ramsey County.

Grantsights' view: none of this decides whether you get a JAG award, which the formula already set. It decides what you're promising when you accept one. As of October 27, 2026, the all-recipient notice covers FY2025 JAG only, so an FY2026 recipient not named in a notice should read its award conditions with counsel before signing, and check that page again before drawing funds.

What BJA's JAG Pages Don't Tell You

BJA's pages publish every date and dollar, but 5 practical gaps cost local governments money or time.

1. The calendar slipped by 6 months and snapped back. FY2024 notices posted in late August and early September 2024. FY2025 notices didn't post until March 13, 2026, and FY2026 followed on August 25, 2026. A city with an allocation filed 2 JAG applications within about 6 months, each needing its own 30-day governing body review. BJA's pages don't say why FY2025 ran late.
2. Your award may start before you see it. The FY2025 Local notice set the start date at October 1, 2024, with 24 months for awards under $25,000 and 48 months for larger ones. On paper, a small FY2025 award ran out September 30, 2026. The statute lets the Attorney General grant extensions, so ask your BJA grant manager before you plan purchases. FY2026 awards also start on paper on October 1, 2025.
3. Hundreds of local allocations go unclaimed. The FY2025 Local notice expected 1,230 awards. OJP's data shows 930 applications and 895 awards. Nothing on BJA's pages says where an unclaimed local share goes.
4. Small awards are the norm. In FY2025, 351 of 895 local awards were under $25,000. Grantsights' view: a $15,000 award still needs a 30-day council review, a JustGrants account and years of performance reports, so plan one clean purchase, not a program.
5. Federal spending data lags. If you research peers on USASpending.gov (opens in a new tab), FY2025 awards weren't there on November 6, 2026. Use OJP's award data instead.

Grantsights pulled each window from that notice's federal listing on November 6, 2026, so the close dates include extensions; BJA's own pages show some earlier dates, such as September 18 for the FY2026 state step. The state window is the tight one, and it's been under 30 days for 2 straight rounds.

Byrne JAG Award Data: Who Got the FY2025 Money

Grantsights analysis of OJP's award data, exported November 6, 2026, found 895 FY2025 local JAG awards worth $90,043,038. The median was $33,511, the middle half ran from $17,722 to $74,073, and only 10 awards reached $1,000,000. About 270 of the 895 recipients had county, parish or borough names, a rough split by name.

California had the most local awards (106, $11,533,141), then Florida (85), Texas (47), Georgia (36) and South Carolina (32). The largest went to New York City's Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice ($4,098,693), Houston ($2,861,935), Los Angeles ($2,637,627), Chicago ($2,066,157) and Philadelphia ($1,879,874). For example, Bismarck received $28,681 in FY2025 for North Dakota's capital, while Kokomo, Indiana got $36,668 and Alexandria, Virginia got $38,964.

The 56 FY2025 state awards totaled $199,222,278, with a median of $2,316,520. California's Board of State and Community Corrections got the largest ($20,135,051), followed by the Texas Office of the Governor ($16,117,963), the Florida Department of Law Enforcement ($11,948,239) and New York's Division of Criminal Justice Services ($9,522,245). The Northern Mariana Islands got the smallest, $238,550.

What local governments buy with JAG

The FY2024 descriptions on USASpending.gov (opens in a new tab) show what a typical local award pays for. USASpending listed 857 FY2024 local awards above $0, worth $78,818,049, with a median of $32,991, close to OJP's 871 awards and $80,251,928.

One county in Florida, Brevard, put its $41,758 FY2024 award toward the salary of a full-time digital forensic investigator, then received $48,444 in FY2025. That's a red flag for budgeting, not a criticism: a salary paid by a grant that shifts every year with crime counts needs a local backstop.

Pass-Through Money: What State JAG Subawards Show

According to USASpending subaward data pulled November 6, 2026, prime recipients reported 1,267 subawards under JAG formula awards with dates from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025, worth $133,820,473, with a median of $72,743. Only 117 prime recipients filed any, so the true number is higher. Texas recipients reported the most (193 subawards), then New York (111) and Florida (99).

About 97 of the 1,267, worth $11,803,189 with a median of $89,059, went to recipients whose names look like nonprofits, by a name test Grantsights applied. Examples from the reports:

• Unlocking Doors Inc. (Texas), $980,645 from the Texas Office of the Governor for reentry case coordination, reported December 2024 and again in October 2025
• Rehabilitation Through the Arts (New York), $400,000 from New York's Division of Criminal Justice Services for programming in correctional facilities
• Defender Association of Philadelphia, $249,938 from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency for client case management
• Texas Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs, $201,613 for youth prevention programs
• Jubilee Jobs (DC), $200,000 for job readiness services for 60 returning citizens
• Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington, $632,362 reported in February 2026 for housing and case management for formerly incarcerated men

The pattern is plain enough: state JAG competitions do fund reentry, victim services, youth prevention, defense and court programs run by nonprofits, at sizes closer to a staff position than a building. Reentry groups should also read the grants for reentry programs guide, the Second Chance Act reentry grants guide and the 2026 ranking of reentry grants. Victim services groups can compare grants for victim services programs, and programs tied to drug courts or treatment can check the opioid crisis grants guide.

Non-Federal Money for JAG Applicants: The Community Funder List

Foundation money fits JAG applicants unevenly, and the honest split is by applicant type. A city police department or county sheriff rarely gets private foundation grants directly; that money usually flows through a police foundation, as the police departments guide shows. A reentry nonprofit, a victim advocacy group or a youth diversion program often does get foundation grants, and many use them to cover the years a state JAG subaward doesn't.

For those nonprofits, Grantsights keeps a community funder list: private foundations that made community and civic gifts, sorted by state, taken from the 990-PF returns they file with the IRS. Your own state's preview costs nothing, and a refund is available for 30 days if the list doesn't suit you. It's private foundation money, not federal grant money, and no foundation list will stand in for a JAG allocation.

These are statewide counts of all community giving in Grantsights analysis of 990-PF filings pulled October 29, 2026, not justice gifts alone. Read each funder's past grants with how to read a 990-PF before writing, and use the Grantsights grant database to watch for the FY2027 JAG notices and state pass-through rounds.

Common Mistakes With Byrne JAG

These 6 mistakes come straight from the notices, FAQs and award data above.

• Waiting for the notice to start the 30-day review. The FY2025 State window was 25 days. Groups underestimate how long a council agenda takes; put JAG on it before the notice posts.
• Filing alone inside a disparate group. One member files for the whole group, with a signed memorandum.
• Skipping the first federal step. If it's missed, JustGrants won't take the application, as the FY2026 Local page says.
• Buying an unmarked vehicle or a building. Only police cruisers, boats and helicopters escape the vehicle ban without a waiver.
• Using JAG to replace budget money. The non-supplanting certification covers that, and audits check it.
• A nonprofit applying to BJA. It can't. Watch the SAA's competition calendar instead, or partner with a city or county that has an allocation. Mental health and crisis response groups can compare federal alternatives in grants for mental health programs.

Related Guides for Justice Funding

At least 8 Grantsights guides cover the money around a JAG award. The federal grants for local governments guide sets JAG beside the Community Development Block Grant, FEMA and transportation programs, which helps a city manager plan the whole year. The DOJ grants guide covers OJP's competitive programs, the Office on Violence Against Women and the COPS Office, and the police departments guide covers private money for police foundations and K-9 units. Youth diversion programs can also look at grants for youth programs.

FAQ: Common Questions

Are Byrne JAG grants open right now? Only for governments that finished the first federal step by November 3; the FY2026 Local JustGrants step closed November 6, 2026.

How much is a Byrne JAG grant? Your formula allocation sets it. FY2025 local awards ran $10,008 to $4,098,693, median $33,511.

Does Byrne JAG require a match? No, but it can't replace local money, and administration is capped at 10%.

Who is eligible for a direct JAG award? The 56 SAAs and the local governments and tribes on BJA's allocation list.

Can a nonprofit get Byrne JAG money? Only as a subaward from a state or local recipient.

How do you apply for Byrne JAG? Get a UEI, file the SF-424, then finish in JustGrants, after a 30-day governing body review.

Sources

These sources were checked November 6, 2026.

• BJA: Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program overview (opens in a new tab)
• BJA: FY2026 JAG allocations, state and local (opens in a new tab)
• BJA: FY2026 JAG Local Formula, O-BJA-2026-172705 (opens in a new tab)
• OJP: FY2026 JAG Local Formula notice (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
• BJA: FY2026 JAG State Formula, O-BJA-2026-172704 (opens in a new tab)
• BJA: FY2025 JAG Local Formula, O-BJA-2025-172542 (opens in a new tab)
• BJA: FY2025 JAG State Formula, O-BJA-2025-172541 (opens in a new tab)
• BJA: JAG archives (FY2022 to FY2026 notices and allocations) (opens in a new tab)
• BJA: JAG Frequently Asked Questions, updated August 2026 (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
• BJA: JAG prohibited expenditure guidance (opens in a new tab)
• BJS: Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program, 2025 (opens in a new tab)
• OJP: Legal notices on award conditions, updated October 27, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
• OJP: View OJP Grant Awards (award data by notice and by state and city) (opens in a new tab)
• OJP: State Administering Agencies (opens in a new tab)
• Grants.gov: FY2026 JAG Local Formula listing (opens in a new tab) (FY2023 to FY2026 State and Local listings checked through the Grants.gov API)
• govinfo.gov: 34 U.S.C. 10152, JAG uses, subawards and prohibited uses (opens in a new tab)
• govinfo.gov: 34 U.S.C. 10153, applications (opens in a new tab)
• govinfo.gov: 34 U.S.C. 10156, formula (opens in a new tab)
• USASpending.gov: City of Houston FY2024 JAG award, 15PBJA24GG05371JAGX (opens in a new tab) (with API pulls of 16.738 prime awards and subawards)
• Grantsights statewide community pull of 990-PF filings, October 29, 2026