← Back to search

Bureau of Justice Assistance · Department of Justice

OJP FY 2026 Special Attorneys Program Round 10

Open

In short: Bureau of Justice Assistance gives grants of up to $3 million. Open to many kinds of groups. See who can apply.

Key facts

Deadline
Due Oct 28, 2026 · 14 days left
Award size
Up to $3M
Match ?
Not required · Work out your budget and match
Who can apply
City or town government, County government, State government, Tribal government, and others named in the official notice
Where
Anywhere in the U.S., including Tennessee

Before you apply: federal grants require an active SAM.gov registration (Unique Entity ID) and a Grants.gov account. The deadline is in 14 days. If your registration isn't already active, it may not be ready in time, so check it today. Get-ready checklist

How this fits you

  • Available in Tennessee (nationwide program)
  • No match required
  • Past Tennessee awards on file: 2

Tell us who you are to see whether you're eligible.

About this grant

This is a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for the OJP FY 2026 Special Attorneys Program. This program will support state, local, Tribal, and territorial prosecuting agencies to assign or hire qualified prosecutors to serve full-time or part-time (on a case-by-case basis) as Special Attorneys under the direction of the National Fraud Enforcement Division or the Criminal Division, or to serve as Special Assistant United States Attorneys (SAUSAs) within a United States Attorney’s Office. Funds under this program can also be used to hire criminal investigators, as well as analysts, forensic accountants, and other staff who help with collection or analysis of law enforcement investigative information, to provide further investigative support. These “cross-designated” prosecutors, criminal investigators, and other investigative support staff will remain employees of their home agencies but will investigate and prosecute assigned fraud and other crimes committed by aliens within the United States (hereafter referred to as “criminal aliens”) for the duration of their appointment under this program. Cross-designated prosecutors, criminal investigators, and other investigative support staff may also be assigned cases involving drug or human trafficking committed within the United States. The National Fraud Enforcement Division, Criminal Division, and United States Attorney’s Offices will coordinate with selected prosecutor offices on a case-by-case basis to address logistics and any unique local circumstances. This grant program, authorized under Public Law 119-21, Title X, Subtitle A, Part II, Section 100055 (codified at 34 U.S.C. § 61101), is intended to improve the collection and analysis of law enforcement investigative information, strengthen investigative and prosecutorial capacity, expand intergovernmental coordination, and enhance the ability of jurisdictions to counter gang or other criminal activity, investigate and prosecute fraud and other crimes committed by aliens within the United States, as well as investigate and prosecute drug and human trafficking crimes. The program is also intended to increase the availability of cross-designated prosecutorial personnel who can pursue these matters in coordination with federal authorities and contribute to the effective enforcement of applicable criminal laws.

Who can apply, from the official notice

Other Units of Local Government: For the purposes of this NOFO, other units of local government include towns, boroughs, parishes, villages, or other general purpose political subdivisions of a state.

View on Grants.gov Add deadline to my calendar

Ask a partner for a letter

Your schedule, working back from the deadline

  1. Oct14
    Check that your SAM.gov registration is active (or start it now)
    Grants.gov: allow up to 10 business days for SAM registration, weeks or months if information isn't verified. It must be renewed every year. Grants.gov
  2. Oct7
    Ask partners for letters of support or commitment (already past: do it now)
    Suggested: partners need about three weeks to write and sign letters.
  3. Oct21
    Finish a complete draft for a final review
    Suggested: leave about a week for someone else to read the draft.
  4. Oct26
    Submit
    Grants.gov: submit at least 24–48 hours before the deadline: uploads fail, systems slow down, errors need fixing. Grants.gov blog
  5. Oct28
    Deadline
    From the funder.

Save this grant to put these dates in My grants and your private calendar.

See how others wrote it

The agency posted this example. Read them for structure and level of detail. Don't copy their words: funders treat copied text as plagiarism, and requirements change from year to year, so follow the current notice.

All sample proposals

Who in Tennessee has won this program

2 awards to Tennessee groups in 2 counties since 2026. Largest shown:

Past Tennessee winners
Past winnerWhereAmountFiscal year
County of AndersonClinton, Anderson County$964K2026
County of ClaiborneTazewell, Claiborne County$865K2026

Source: USAspending.gov. Past awards show who this program funds. They don't guarantee future awards.

Similar grants open or opening soon

From other funders, about the same kind of work.

More from Bureau of Justice Assistance

About the federal program

Law Enforcement Support for Combatting Criminal Aliens, Drug, and Human Trafficking
Program number 16.076 (the federal Assistance Listing number) · U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs · Grant, cooperative agreement (a grant with close agency involvement)

How applications are judged

In each year's official notice: read this year's.

Match

None required (federal program listing).

This program on SAM.gov

Something wrong on this page? Tell us
What's wrong?

Source: Federal grants from Grants.gov · the official federal record. Last checked by GrantMe Oct 14, 2026.

Reference numbers: official notice number O-BJA-2026-172792 · program number 16.076