Byrne JAG's 2025 Math Arrives as 2026 Applications Close: $302 Million, 1,649 Local Governments, an Oct. 16 Deadline

The money from one Byrne JAG round and the paperwork for the next are crossing on the same desk this month. On October 7 the Bureau of Justice Statistics published the formula calculations behind fiscal 2025 Justice Assistance Grants: about $302.0 million, split among states, territories and 1,649 eligible local governments [1]. Three days from now, at 8:59 p.m. Eastern on October 16, full applications for the fiscal 2026 local round are due in JustGrants [4]. Police chiefs, sheriffs and county finance offices are working both cycles at once.

What the formula produced for 2025

The exact total was $302,044,088 [1]. States got $295.5 million of it, and the District of Columbia and the territories $6.5 million [1]. By this column’s arithmetic, that is about $31.8 million more than the $270.3 million BJS calculated for fiscal 2024 [1, 2]. The count of eligible local governments rose from 1,489 to 1,649 [1, 2].

The five largest state allocations were California ($33.7 million), Texas ($25.4 million), Florida ($18.1 million), New York ($15.5 million) and Illinois ($11.0 million) [1]. Among cities, New York City led at $4.1 million, followed by Los Angeles, Houston, Philadelphia and Chicago [1]. California had 230 eligible local governments, Florida 119 and Texas 101 [1].

The formula itself is set by statute, 34 U.S.C. 10151-10158, and runs in four steps [1]:

1. Half the money is divided by each state’s share of violent crime and half by its share of population.
2. Every state and territory gets at least 0.25% of the total, which was $755,110 this year. North Dakota, Vermont, Wyoming and four territories got only that floor.
3. Each state keeps 60%, and 40% is set aside for local governments.
4. Local shares follow each jurisdiction’s three-year average of reported violent crime. A calculated award under $10,000 goes back to the state to pass along.

Of the $118.2 million local set-aside, $96.4 million went to directly eligible local governments and $21.8 million went back to state governments [1]. Among the states this column covers, Arizona had 35 eligible local governments, Colorado 28, Illinois 48 and New York 29 [1].

The crime data under the dollars

Before quoting a number from this report, know what it counts. The state-level step still runs on FBI violent crime estimates for 2018 through 2020 [1]. BJS explains that after the FBI made the National Incident-Based Reporting System the standard on January 1, 2021, several states lacked enough reporting agencies to produce reliable estimates, so it has used the last complete set since fiscal 2023 [1]. It names Arizona, New York, Washington and nine other states as having fallen short in 2021 [1].

The local step uses agency counts from 2014 through 2023 [1]. An agency must have reported violent crime to the FBI for at least three of the past 10 years to be counted, and BJS now prefers complete 12-month years over partial ones [1]. An agency that missed years in the NIBRS changeover may find its share based on older data, and one that reported nothing for three years is not eligible at all [1].

Penalties also move money between states. Thirty-four states and territories were out of compliance with the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, and their combined awards were cut by $6,593,478 [1]. Thirty were not certified under the Prison Rape Elimination Act and lost a combined $2,504,352 [1]. Neither penalty reaches the portion of JAG funds awarded directly to local law enforcement [1].

What the 2026 solicitation asks of a department

The fiscal 2026 local solicitation, released August 25, lists up to $96,518,469 for an anticipated 1,190 awards, the largest up to $4,964,030 [3]. The number of awards is not the same measure as BJS’s count of eligible governments: jurisdictions in a disparate group, where a county shares the costs of a city’s cases, file one application through a single fiscal agent [3]. There is no match [3].

The award period runs 24 months for awards under $25,000 and 48 months for larger ones, starting October 1, 2025 [3]. Police1 noted that the backdated start may let agencies recover eligible costs incurred since then, if those costs are in the approved budget [4]. That matters because the prior round started late. CBS News reported that the Office of Justice Programs did not open fiscal 2025 JAG applications until March 13, 2026, and that many attributed the delays to staffing cuts and an executive order adding political review of grants [5].

Applicants check several certifications on top of the standard assurances. Body-worn camera policy, mandatory body armor wear, extreme risk protection orders, drones and counter-drone equipment each carry their own form when a budget touches them [3]. Police1 described BJA’s revised prohibited-equipment guidance as less restrictive, with drones allowed after prior approval and patrol vehicles able to qualify as police cruisers [4].

For emphasis areas, BJA lists combating violent crime, immigration enforcement, “safe communities” and safe houses of worship [3]. Under immigration enforcement it names 287(g) partnerships, Homeland Security Task Forces and honoring detainers [3]. It places out of scope any program that hinders federal immigration enforcement, “including by failing to comply with 8 U.S.C. § 1373, give access to DHS agents, or honor DHS requests” [3]. It also bars using the money for legal services to people unlawfully present, with exceptions for protection orders for crime victims [3].

The appropriators and the attorneys general

House appropriators split along party lines over next year’s money. The committee approved its fiscal 2027 Commerce-Justice-Science bill 32-28 on May 13 [6]. The majority said the bill keeps “robust funding for Byrne JAG formula grants” and COPS hiring while “canceling progressive grant programs” [6, 7]. Its summary puts COPS at $762.544 million, 4.7% below the fiscal 2026 enacted level [7]. Committee Democrats put the bill’s Byrne JAG formula line at $428 million and objected that it provides nothing for community violence intervention, de-escalation training or police-community relations grants [8].

For now, agencies are running on H.R. 6500, the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027, a stopgap through December 11 [10].

The conditions have their own fight. On October 1, 2025, Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield and 19 other attorneys general sued in federal court in Rhode Island over DOJ’s legal-services condition on VOCA, Byrne JAG and VAWA funds [9]. “Cutting off services doesn’t just hurt families in crisis, it undermines trust in our justice system,” Rayfield said [9]. DOJ frames the fiscal 2026 emphasis areas as a way to stretch tight local budgets by sharing resources with federal agencies [3].

What I’m watching

October 16. The JustGrants deadline for full fiscal 2026 local applications [4]. The JAG statute also requires governing-body review of each application and a chance for public comment [3].

December 11. The stopgap expires [10]. Whether Congress finishes the Commerce-Justice-Science bill by then, or extends again, decides the dollar figure for fiscal 2027 JAG.