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Special Attorneys Program

Expansion of Special Attorneys Program to Criminal Investigative Staff

The Department of Justice has expanded the funding available through the Special Attorneys Program to now offer grant opportunities to non-Federal agencies across the country to designate skilled criminal investigators and other staff to join the mission to eliminate fraud, defeat the drug cartels, and rescue victims of trafficking.

The Special Attorneys Program now makes available $300 million in funding to state, local, Tribal, and territorial investigative agencies to hire or designate qualified criminal investigators, analysts, forensic accountants, and other staff to provide investigative support to prosecutors serving within the Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division, Criminal Division, and as Special Assistant United States Attorneys within United States Attorney’s Offices. Funds are also available to hire or designate qualified staff to the Department of Justice’s National Fraud Detection Center, a multi-agency data analytics team dedicated to identifying fraud across taxpayer-funded programs and generating leads for investigators and prosecutors.

The Special Attorneys Program strengthens investigative and prosecutorial capacity, expands intergovernmental coordination, and enhances the ability of jurisdictions to investigate and prosecute fraud and other crimes committed by criminal aliens within the United States and drug and human trafficking crimes.

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Updated September 22, 2026