Bureau of Justice Assistance

The Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Assistance, a civilian sub-agency within the Department of Justice, administers both federal contract awards and grant programs that support state, local, and tribal law enforcement; corrections; prosecution; treatment courts; forensic science; wrongful conviction review; and victim services. BJA is the principal federal funder of local criminal justice capacity-building and operates one of the largest grant portfolios in civilian government.

BJA awarded 115 federal contracts totaling $290.1 million in combined potential value since 2001, with $203.9 million obligated (70 percent of potential). Contract activity has accelerated in recent years: 6 awards in 2022, 7 in 2023, 13 in 2024, 6 in 2025, and 3 so far in 2026. The contract portfolio spans 56 distinct prime contractors. Competition is moderately concentrated among current active primes: over the last five years, Saxman One LLC (8 awards, $3.8 million), Betah Associates Inc. (4 awards, $14.8 million), and Leidos Inc. (3 awards, $9.1 million) collectively hold 60 percent of recent awards by count, while the top five primes by potential value account for 20 percent of combined contract value. Most contracts carry no set-aside designation (70 percent of awards); 8(a) sole-source and small-business awards comprise 11 percent and 9 percent respectively, with woman-owned small business and competitive 8(a) making up the remainder.

BJA's grant portfolio dwarfs its contract business: 28,384 total grant awards have obligated $18.38 billion in federal dollars since 1989, with $19.42 billion in total obligated funds including non-federal match. Grant activity has declined sharply: 2,526 awards in 2022, 2,437 in 2023, 1,604 in 2024, 178 in 2025, and 45 so far in 2026. The grant portfolio includes 5,397 distinct recipients. Grant recipients are highly fragmented: the top five recipients by award count (all state and local law enforcement and corrections agencies) account for only 2 percent of recent awards, as do the top five by federal dollars. Grants are predominantly Project Grants (40 percent of awards) and Formula Grants (28 percent), with Block Grants (24 percent) and Cooperative Agreements (8 percent) as supplemental instruments.

Representative recent grant opportunities include the Missing and Unidentified Human Remains Program (due December 2, 2026), the Integrity in American Elections Grant Program (due December 1, 2026), the Special Attorneys Program Round 10 as a cooperative agreement supporting prosecutors and investigators in criminal alien and trafficking cases (due October 28, 2026), the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment for State Prisoners Formula Grants Program (due November 20, 2026), the Justice Reinvestment Initiative supporting state and local efforts to reduce wasteful spending and redirect resources to crime reduction (due November 20, 2026), the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Act Program supporting investigation and prosecution of civil rights deaths prior to 1980 (due November 13, 2026), the Veterans Treatment Court Program supporting substance use disorder and mental health treatment in judicially supervised court settings (due October 29, 2026), and the Rural Violent Crime Reduction Initiative supporting law enforcement in rural jurisdictions (due October 30, 2026). Multiple invitational cooperative-agreement opportunities target specific organizations: the Medicaid and Corrections Program (The Goodnation Foundation, due October 21, 2026) and the Justice Information Sharing Training and Technical Assistance Program supporting six regional information-sharing centers (The Institute for Intergovernmental Research, due October 13, 2026). Most recent opportunities close in late October or November 2026.