Innocence Delaware Inc.

Innocence Delaware Inc., a Delaware-based tax-exempt nonprofit, acts as both a federal grant recipient (50% of recent awards) and a sub-recipient on wrongful-conviction litigation and investigation work funded through the Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Assistance.

Innocence Delaware is a nonprofit criminal-justice organization specializing in screening, investigating, and litigating wrongful-conviction cases with focus on forensic and social-science evidence. The organization operates as Delaware's sole Innocence Project, addressing disproportionate incarceration in the state — as of 2022, Black Delawareans comprised 22.1% of the state population but 60% of the local prison population, 65% of those serving life sentences, and 63% of those detained awaiting charges. The vendor's federal work centers on postconviction DNA testing and case investigation to support exoneration efforts for incarcerated individuals claiming innocence.

All four recent federal awards flow from a single customer agency — the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance — with combined dollars obligated of $1.8 million. On the prime-recipient side, Innocence Delaware holds a project grant (assistance type) awarded October 1, 2022, with ultimate completion September 30, 2025, focused on expanding organizational infrastructure and capacity by adding an executive director, investigator, and staff attorney with forensic and social-science expertise. The organization also operates as a sub-recipient on two separate funding streams awarded September 13, 2023, and August 21, 2023, respectively, both funded through the Executive Office of the Governor of Delaware (prime grantee) and focused on postconviction DNA testing and personnel resources to support exoneration claims. Activity was sparse (one award in 2019, one in 2022, two in 2023), with the most recent sub-award dating to September 2023; the prime grant reaches ultimate completion September 30, 2025.