The Special Attorneys 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.
Donor Name: Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 06/17/2026
Size of the Grant: More than $1 million
Grant Duration: 3 Years
Details:
These “cross-designated” prosecutors 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 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 is intended to strengthen investigative and prosecutorial capacity, expand intergovernmental coordination, and enhance the ability of jurisdictions to 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 crossdesignated prosecutorial personnel who can pursue these matters in coordination with federal authorities and contribute to the effective enforcement of applicable criminal laws.
Goals and Objectives
- Strengthen prosecutorial capacity to investigate and prosecute fraud and other crimes committed by aliens and to investigate and prosecute drug and human trafficking crimes.
- Support state, local, Tribal, and territorial prosecuting agencies in assigning or hiring qualified prosecutors to serve in cross-designated capacities as Special Attorneys within the National Fraud Enforcement Division or the Criminal Division, or as Special Assistant United States Attorneys (SAUSAs) within a United States Attorney’s Office.
- Increase the ability of participating jurisdictions to pursue fraud and other crimes committed by criminal aliens and to pursue drug and human trafficking crimes through dedicated prosecutorial staffing, case development, and litigation support.
- Enhance coordination between federal, state, local, Tribal, and territorial law enforcement authorities, including Homeland Security Task Force operations.
- Promote coordinated case identification, referral, and prosecution through cross-designated prosecutorial assignments that support more effective and efficient collaboration among prosecuting agencies, law enforcement agencies, and relevant federal partners of eligible fraud matters.
Funding Information
Expected Total Amount of Funding: $300,000,000.
Grant Period
36 months
Uses of Funds
The following are certain unallowable costs and certain activities that are out of the program scope and will not be funded.
- Out of program scope is any program or activity, at any tier that violates any applicable Federal civil rights or nondiscrimination law. This includes violations that (1) indirectly violate the law, including by promoting or facilitating violations; or (2) unlawfully favor individuals in any race or protected group, including on a majority or minority, or privileged or unprivileged, basis, within a given area, population, or sector.
- As specified in the DOJ Grants Financial Guide, in Chapter 3.13 “Unallowable Costs” (“Legal Services for Aliens”), any obligations of funds, at any tier, under this award to provide (or to support the provision of) legal services to any removable alien or any alien otherwise unlawfully present in the United States shall be unallowable costs for purposes any award made under this notice, but the foregoing shall not be understood to apply: (1) to legal services to obtain protection orders for victims of crime; or (2) to immigration-related legal services that may be expressly authorized or required by any law, or any judicial ruling, governing or applicable to the award.
Eligibility Criteria
Eligible applicants are government entities with the legal, operational, and managerial capacity to employ prosecutors serving in cross-designated capacities as Special Attorneys within the National Fraud Enforcement Division or Criminal Division or as Special Assistant United States Attorneys (SAUSAs) within a United States Attorney’s Office. Eligible applicant types include:
- Government Entities
- State governments
- County governments
- City or township governments
- Native American Tribal governments (federally recognized)
- State Government Entities: For the purposes of this NOFO, “state” means any state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
- “Other” Entities Definition:
- 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.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
