FY 2026 JAG Local Formula: How Cities and Counties Claim Their Justice Assistance Allocation

BJA's FY 2026 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program—Local Formula solicitation, released August 25, 2026, makes up to $96,518,469 available across an anticipated 1,190 awards to units of local government — with individual awards running up to $4,964,030 for the largest jurisdictions. JAG is a formula program, not a competition: if your city, county, township, or tribe is on BJA's FY 2026 allocation list, the money is already earmarked for you. There is no cost share. The work is not winning — it's claiming your allocation correctly through a two-step submission (Grants.gov by October 9, JustGrants by October 16) and budgeting it inside JAG's statutory guardrails: the prohibited expenditures list, the 10% administrative cap, the trust fund rule, and the no-supplanting certification.

What Is the FY 2026 JAG Local Formula Program?

JAG is the Justice Department's primary formula funding stream for state and local criminal justice, authorized by Pub. L. No. 90-351, Title I, Part E, subpart 1 (codified at 34 U.S.C. §§ 10151–10158; see also 28 U.S.C. § 530C(a)). Per the FY 2026 NOFO, the Local Formula opportunity funds units of local government to “support hiring additional personnel and/or purchase equipment, supplies, contractual support, training, technical assistance, and information systems for criminal justice or civil proceedings” across eleven statutory program areas.

Formula, Not Competitive — What That Changes

Unlike discretionary BJA programs, there is no peer review panel and no scoring rubric. Your jurisdiction's amount is computed from the JAG statutory formula (fully described in BJA's JAG Technical Report) and published in advance, state by state, on the JAG Allocations page. OJP's review checks that the application is “reasonable, understandable, measurable, achievable, and consistent with the goals of the funding opportunity,” plus a financial risk review — and the NOFO is blunt that applications from units of local government not listed in the allocation charts will not be accepted for funding. So skip the “how to be competitive” playbook. The real failure modes for JAG are administrative: missing one of the two deadlines, letting SAM.gov lapse, skipping the governing-body notice and public comment certification, or budgeting a prohibited item.

Who Can Apply

The FY 2026 Local Formula NOFO lists four government entity types plus a catch-all:

• County governments
• City or township governments
• Special district governments
• Native American tribal governments (federally recognized)
• Other units of local government

The statutory definition is broader than most people expect. For JAG purposes, a “unit of local government” includes a town, township, village, parish, city, county, borough, or other general-purpose political subdivision of a state — or a federally recognized American Indian tribal government that performs law enforcement functions (as determined by the Secretary of the Interior). It can also be a law enforcement district or judicial enforcement district established under applicable state law with authority to independently establish a budget and impose taxes; in Louisiana, for example, a unit of local government means a district attorney or parish sheriff.

But the definition only gets you to the door. Eligibility is ultimately the allocation list: the NOFO instructs all prospective local applicants to check the JAG Allocations page for their state before starting an application, and applications from units of local government not listed in the allocation charts will not be accepted for funding.

Step Zero: Look Up Your Allocation

The FY 2026 Local JAG allocations are published on the JAG Allocations website, with a separate list for each state. The formula runs on population and violent crime statistics; the JAG Technical Report documents the math. Your allocation chart entry tells you two things: your dollar figure, and whether you're flagged as part of a disparate group.

Disparate Jurisdictions: One Application, One Fiscal Agent

Under the JAG statute (34 U.S.C. § 10156(d)(4)), a funding “disparity” may exist between a county and its associated municipalities. When BJA identifies jurisdictions as disparate, they cannot each apply separately. Per the NOFO: units of local government identified as disparate must select a fiscal agent that will submit an application for the total allocation that includes all disparate jurisdictions — and only one eligible member of the group may apply as fiscal agent for the others. If your city shows up in a disparate pairing with your county, the first conversation isn't with BJA; it's with your counterparts about who holds the money, how it splits, and who does the reporting.

The 11 JAG Program Areas: What the Money Can Do

JAG's flexibility is its signature. The NOFO authorizes funds for hiring personnel and/or purchasing equipment, supplies, contractual support, training, technical assistance, and information systems for criminal justice or civil proceedings, in any one or more of these program areas:

1. Law enforcement programs
2. Prosecution and court programs
3. Prevention and education programs
4. Corrections and community corrections programs
5. Drug treatment and enforcement programs
6. Planning, evaluation, and technology improvement programs
7. Crime victim and witness programs (other than compensation)
8. Mental health programs and related law enforcement and corrections programs, including behavioral programs and crisis intervention teams
9. Implementation of state crisis intervention court proceedings and related programs, including mental health courts, drug courts, veterans courts, and extreme risk protection order (ERPO) programs
10. Programs to purchase and operate unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) (as defined in 49 U.S.C. § 44801) to benefit public safety
11. Programs to purchase and operate counter-UAS systems included on the list of technologies established under section 210G of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. § 124n(d)(2)(A)(iii))

The NOFO adds that JAG funds awarded under this solicitation may also be used for any purpose on BJA's published list of purposes for which JAG funds may be used.

FY 2026 Priorities and Areas of Emphasis

Formula money doesn't get scored against priorities, but the NOFO states OJP's FY 2026 priorities plainly: directly supporting law enforcement operations (including immigration law enforcement operations); combatting violent crime; supporting services to American citizens; protecting American children; and supporting American victims of trafficking and sexual assault.

It then names four areas of emphasis for FY 2026 JAG recipients:

• Combating Violent Crime: implementing, enhancing, or expanding projects that combat violent crime and directly support law enforcement operations — addressing human trafficking, dismantling criminal gangs and drug networks, coordinating with U.S. Attorneys and Project Safe Neighborhoods grantees (including DOJ Operation Take Back America), and protecting the public, critical infrastructure, mass gatherings, and public facilities from careless or unlawful UAS use, including drone detection, tracking, and identification equipment.
• Immigration Enforcement: partnering with federal law enforcement on immigration enforcement operations — the NOFO's examples include information sharing, entering into and fully participating in a 287(g) partnership and/or a Homeland Security Task Force, honoring detainers, and protecting critical infrastructure.
• Safe Communities: supporting services to citizens and crime victims, collaborating with federal task forces on endemic vagrancy and encampments, improving public order through enforcement and prosecution of nuisance abatement and blight, and utilizing civil commitment and step-down treatment standards to address untreated mental health and substance use disorders.
• Safe Houses of Worship: responding to and deterring threats against houses of worship, religious schools, and other religious institutions.

What JAG Cannot Fund

Unallowable Activities in the FY 2026 NOFO

The FY 2026 NOFO defines three categories of unallowable costs and out-of-scope activities:

• Immigration law compliance: out of program scope is any program or activity, at any tier, that directly or indirectly violates (or promotes or facilitates the violation of) federal immigration law — including 8 U.S.C. § 1373 — or impedes or hinders the enforcement of federal immigration law, including by failing to give access to DHS agents or honor DHS requests.
• Civil rights compliance: out of scope is any program or activity that violates any applicable federal civil rights or nondiscrimination law, including indirect violations or unlawfully favoring individuals in any race or protected group within a given area, population, or sector.
• Legal services for aliens: per Chapter 3.13 of the DOJ Grants Financial Guide, obligations of funds at any tier to provide (or support the provision of) legal services to any removable alien or alien otherwise unlawfully present in the U.S. are unallowable — with two carve-outs: legal services to obtain protection orders for victims of crime, and immigration-related legal services expressly authorized or required by law or judicial ruling.

No Supplanting

JAG funds may not be used to supplant state or local funds — they must increase the amounts that would, in the absence of federal funds, be made available for criminal justice. If a position or purchase was already in the adopted budget, moving it onto JAG is the classic audit finding. The chief executive certifies to the non-supplanting requirement as part of the application (see below).

Prohibited and Controlled Expenditures: Check Before You Budget

The JAG statute (34 U.S.C. § 10152) prohibits certain purchases outright and prohibits others unless a waiver is granted. BJA's JAG Prohibited Expenditures Guidance splits the list into two categories:

Category B items can only be purchased if the Department of Justice first certifies in writing that extraordinary and exigent circumstances exist making the expenditure essential to the maintenance of public safety and good order. The definitions in the guidance are where practitioners get burned — and where they get relief:

• “Vehicles” is broad: buses, RVs, trucks and pickups, vans, motorcycles, SUVs, Segways, golf carts, ATVs, and UTVs (where state or local law requires licensing/registration) are all on the list.
• But the police cruiser carve-out follows use, not body style: a vehicle counts as a “police cruiser” only if used in the ordinary course for routine police patrol in the U.S. — and the guidance states explicitly that motorcycles, SUVs, pickup trucks, ATVs, and UTVs used as police cruisers are not on the prohibited list and may be acquired with JAG funds. The same use-based logic applies to police boats and police helicopters.
• UAS/UAV are not on the prohibited list — but drones may be acquired with JAG funds only if the recipient requests and is granted prior express approval from BJA, consistent with BJA's UAS requirements. The FY 2026 application also requires a UAS Certification (and a separate Counter-UAS Certification) if those costs are in the budget.

The waiver process: submit a “Programmatic Costs” Grant Award Modification (GAM) in JustGrants, marked “Other” with “JAG - Category B — Statutorily Prohibited without Waiver” in the text box, attaching a letter on jurisdiction letterhead signed by the award's authorized representative covering the requested use, the award number, the entity that will use the funds, the amount, and a detailed justification for the “extraordinary and exigent circumstances” finding. No JAG funds may be spent on the item until DOJ makes the certification. The FY 2026 NOFO also lets applicants attach a Prohibited Expenditure Waiver Request at application time to start this process pre-award.

Statutory Administrative Requirements: The 10% Cap, the Trust Fund, and the Certifications

• 10% administrative cap: the JAG statute (34 U.S.C. § 10152) limits costs incurred to administer the grant to no more than 10 percent of the award. The NOFO requires local applicants to clearly designate any administrative cost line items within each budget category and project year — in the line-item description or the budget narrative.
• Trust fund and interest: under 34 U.S.C. § 10158, a unit of local government that elects to draw down JAG funds in advance must establish a trust fund to deposit the amounts — and the trust fund must be an interest-bearing account unless one of the exceptions in 2 C.F.R. § 200.305(b)(11) applies. Loop in your finance director before you choose advance drawdown.
• Certifications and assurances: 34 U.S.C. § 10153(A)(1–5) requires, among other things, governing body review and public comment on the JAG application and the prohibition on supplanting. The Certifications and Assurances by the Chief Executive of the Applicant Government — a required JustGrants attachment — contains the assurance that the governing body notification and public comment requirements under 34 U.S.C. § 10153(a)(2) have been met. Build time for a council or commission agenda item into your submission calendar.

The Two-Step Application: Grants.gov, Then JustGrants

Like all OJP funding, JAG uses a two-step submission with two different deadlines — and missing the first forecloses the second.

Step 1: SF-424 in Grants.gov — by October 9, 2026, 11:59 PM ET

Complete and submit the SF-424 (Application for Federal Assistance) in Grants.gov. This requires an active SAM.gov registration — the NOFO tells applicants to begin SAM.gov registration or renewal by September 1, 2026, and no later than September 9, 2026. If your entity's SAM registration has lapsed, that is your critical path today.

Step 2: Full Application in JustGrants — by October 16, 2026, 8:59 PM ET

The substantive application lives in JustGrants, seeded from your Grants.gov SF-424. Per the NOFO's application contents list:

• Standard applicant information (review the data imported from the SF-424; add ZIP codes for areas affected by the project)
• Proposal abstract — limited to 2,000 characters and public once funded, so no personally identifying information
• Financial Management and System of Internal Controls Questionnaire (including Applicant Disclosure of High-Risk Status)
• JAG Survey — JAG-specific survey questions completed inside JustGrants
• Proposal narrative with three required sections: (1) Description of the Need, (2) Project Design and Implementation — including how JAG funds will be coordinated with state and related justice funds and a description of programs funded over the grant period, including any subawards, and (3) Capabilities and Competencies — including who will collect and report the required performance measure data
• Budget Detail attachment — each cost named, computation shown, tied to project goals; administrative cost lines clearly designated. For disparate groups, BJA prefers a single budget worksheet and narrative listing each jurisdiction's costs by category, labeled by partner agency (separate budget attachments per partner are acceptable).
• Certifications and Assurances by the Chief Executive of the applicant government (required for all), plus conditional attachments: Body-Worn Camera Policy Certification (if funding a BWC project), Body Armor Mandatory Wear Certification (if funding body armor), ERPO Certification (if funding an ERPO program), Prohibited Expenditure Waiver Request, UAS Certification, and Counter-UAS Certification (if those costs appear in the budget)
• Disclosures and assurances completed in JustGrants: Disclosure of Lobbying Activities, Disclosure of Duplication in Cost Items (if applicable), DOJ Certified Standard Assurances, DOJ Certifications, and the high-risk grantee disclosure if applicable

One quirk worth knowing: per the NOFO, if a required attachment is missing from an otherwise eligible JAG application, OJP will still issue the award agreement — but funds may be withheld until the attachment is provided. Your allocation isn't lost, but it's frozen. Also note that Executive Order 12372 (Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs) applies to this opportunity, so check whether your state's single point of contact reviews JAG applications.

Review, Award Period, and Post-Award Obligations

How Applications Are Reviewed

Because this is a formula program, OJP reviews applications to ensure the information presented is reasonable, understandable, measurable, achievable, and consistent with the goals of the funding opportunity — along with the standard risk review for formula grants described in OJP's Application Resource Guide. There is no competitive ranking; your allocation is your allocation.

Award Period

The expected award period depends on award size: 24 months for awards under $25,000, and 48 months for awards of $25,000 or more — both starting October 1, 2025 (the start of the federal fiscal year 2026). Note the retroactive start date: by the time awards are made, a chunk of the performance period will already have elapsed, which is normal for JAG and one more reason small jurisdictions on the 24-month clock should plan spend-down early.

Performance Reporting

OJP requires recipients to submit regular performance reports communicating progress toward the program's goal (improving the administration of the criminal justice system) and its two objectives: providing units of local government with additional personnel, equipment, supplies, contractual support, training, technical assistance, and information systems, and assisting units of local government with their criminal justice needs. Beyond the standard items in the post-award requirements, no additional deliverables are required. Recipients receive further guidance on post-award reporting after award; the standard award terms, administrative and national policy requirements, and reporting cadence are set out in OJP's Application Resource Guide and the award conditions.

Practical Guidance for FY 2026 JAG Local Applicants

1. Confirm Your Allocation and Your Disparate Status Today

Pull your state's chart from the JAG Allocations page before doing anything else. If you're not listed, you don't have an FY 2026 direct award — your route to JAG dollars is your state administering agency's pass-through of the state award, not this NOFO. If you are listed and flagged disparate, start the fiscal agent conversation with your county or municipal counterparts now; a joint application for the combined allocation takes longer to negotiate than to write.

2. Fix SAM.gov Immediately

The NOFO's own timeline says to begin SAM.gov registration or renewal by September 1 and no later than September 9, 2026 — which is effectively now. An expired SAM registration blocks the Grants.gov SF-424, and the SF-424 gates the JustGrants application. See our SAM.gov registration guide and UEI number guide if your entity record needs attention.

3. Calendar the Governing-Body Review and Public Comment Window

The chief executive's Certifications and Assurances attachment certifies that the JAG application was made available for governing body review and public comment under 34 U.S.C. § 10153(a)(2). Council and commission agendas have lead times; if your next regular meeting falls after early October, you need the application substantively drafted weeks before the JustGrants deadline — not the night before.

4. Screen Every Budget Line Against the Prohibited List Before You Write It

The most common JAG budget rework is a Category B item nobody flagged: a pickup truck that isn't patrol-use, a renovation that reads as construction, an ATV for a parks program. Check each line against the two-category framework above. If a Category B item is genuinely essential, attach the Prohibited Expenditure Waiver Request at application time rather than discovering the problem at award. And remember drones: UAS/counter-UAS purchases need prior express BJA approval plus their own certifications.

5. Decide Reimbursement vs. Advance Drawdown With Your Finance Director

Advance drawdown triggers the 34 U.S.C. § 10158 trust fund requirement — a dedicated, interest-bearing account unless a 2 C.F.R. § 200.305(b)(11) exception applies. For a small award, the administrative overhead of standing up and reconciling a trust fund may outweigh the cash-flow benefit of drawing in advance. Make this an explicit decision, not a default.

6. Label Administrative Costs and Respect the 10% Cap

If any JAG funds will administer the grant itself, the NOFO requires clear designation of those line items within each budget category and project year, and the statute caps them at 10 percent of the award. Bury an admin cost in an operational line and you've created an audit question; label it and stay under the cap and you've created a defensible file.

7. Write the Narrative for the Program You'll Actually Run

There's no scoring, so resist the urge to pad. The three narrative sections — need, design/implementation (including coordination with state and related justice funds and any subawards), and capabilities (including who collects performance data) — are the baseline OJP will hold you to in performance reporting across a 24- or 48-month award period. A tight, accurate narrative now is cheaper than explaining variances later.

Contact Information

• NOFO Contact: OJP Response Center — OJP.ResponseCenter@usdoj.gov, 800-851-3420 (202-353-5556 TTY), 9:00 AM–5:00 PM ET, Monday–Friday
• Grants.gov Help Desk: support@grants.gov or 800-518-4726, 24/7 (closed federal holidays)
• JustGrants Help Desk: JustGrants.Support@usdoj.gov or 833-872-5175, 7:00 AM–9:00 PM ET weekdays and 9:00 AM–5:00 PM ET weekends and federal holidays
• SAM.gov Help Desk: sam.gov/help, 8 AM–8 PM ET, Monday–Friday
• Program Website: BJA — Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program

How Avila Can Help

JAG's difficulty isn't winning — it's administration. Two portals with two deadlines a week apart. A chief-executive certification that depends on a governing-body agenda. A prohibited items list where eligibility turns on how a vehicle is used, not what it is. A trust fund rule triggered by a drawdown election. A 10% admin cap that has to be visible in the budget itself. And for disparate groups, all of that multiplied across jurisdictions under one fiscal agent. For a grant that arrives every year, the compliance file is the whole game.

Avila's AI-powered platform helps city and county teams claim and manage their JAG allocation cleanly:

• Tracking both deadlines — Grants.gov and JustGrants — plus the SAM.gov renewal window and the governing-body review timeline in one calendar
• Screening draft budget lines against the JAG prohibited and controlled expenditures categories before submission, and flagging when a waiver request or UAS/BWC/body armor/ERPO certification is required
• Structuring disparate-group applications: fiscal agent designation, per-jurisdiction budget worksheets, and interlocal cost splits
• Keeping admin costs labeled and under the 10% statutory cap across budget categories and project years
• Managing post-award compliance — performance reporting, trust fund and interest tracking, and spend-down against a 24- or 48-month award period

Ready to explore how Avila can support your FY 2026 JAG application? Book a demo to learn more.

For related justice-grant guides, see our posts on the FY 2026 Police and Sheriffs' Mental Health Initiative, the FY 2026 Improving Criminal Justice Responses program, and the BJA mental health collaboration programs. For registration prerequisites, see SAM.gov registration and UEI numbers. For managing awards after the money lands, see Avila's post-award management software.