Edward Byrne Memorial Formula Grant Program

The Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Assistance administers the Edward Byrne Memorial Formula Grant Program (CFDA 16.579) to reduce and prevent illegal drug activity, crime, and violence and to improve criminal justice system functioning, with the most recent grant award dated October 1, 2003.

This program has not disbursed new awards in over twenty years. The portfolio comprises 475 total awards spanning from 1989 through 2003, with the five-year window from 1999 to 2003 averaging roughly 51 awards per year. The funding stream appears dormant from a contemporary perspective; no recent grant opportunities are evident in the source material.

The program is structured predominantly as Formula Grants, which account for 463 of 475 awards (97 percent), with a small share of Project Grants (3 percent). Formula grant awards in the 2003 cohort ranged from approximately $456 thousand to $50.2 million, reflecting wide variation in state and local allocation formulas. Representative awards from October 1, 2003 include Formula Grant 2004DBBX0030 at $50.2 million, Formula Grant 2004DBBX0016 at $31.6 million, and Project Grant 2004DBBX0025 at $28 million.

The Bureau of Justice Assistance was the sole funding agency, obligating $1.92 billion in federal dollars across all 475 awards. Recipients contributed an additional $450 million in non-federal matching or cost-share, bringing combined total obligated to $2.37 billion. Formula grants to states and localities formed the core of the program's structure, with project grants representing targeted supplemental funding.

No current grant opportunities are posted. Prospective applicants should verify whether this program remains active under DOJ or has been consolidated, suspended, or replaced by successor funding lines, as the twenty-three-year gap since the last award suggests material changes to DOJ's law enforcement assistance portfolio.