Builds the capacity of conviction integrity units and innocence review entities to identify, assess, and resolve post-conviction claims of innocence. Forensic re-examination and DNA testing are central to most funded reviews.
Open now. Each grant page walks through the steps and dates:
Apply directly on grants.gov. Review entities apply on their own behalf; no state intermediary.
Wrongful conviction review entities, including public defender offices, conviction integrity units, nonprofits, and institutions of higher education. States and counties with in-house post-conviction representation programs must show demonstrable experience litigating post-conviction claims of innocence. Tribal governments and organizations are also eligible.
FY2025: 47 applications received, no awards made yet.
Awards per year: FY2021 18 · FY2022 14 · FY2023 16 · FY2024 12 · FY2025 none yet
Round totals: DOJ Office of Justice Programs award data. Award lists: USAspending.gov, plus DOJ’s own award list for rounds USAspending is missing. The award list covers only awards whose descriptions mention forensic work.
General advice for this program, not taken from the notice. The notice’s own review criteria are what reviewers actually score, so check these against it.
The stated objective is a strategic review focused on cases at greatest risk for error, not a first-come queue. Describe the screening criteria that decide which claims get full review, and why those criteria surface genuine innocence claims.
Objective 2 is explicit about apprehending the real perpetrator. Exonerations that also close the underlying crime are what this program is built for, which is where forensic re-examination and CODIS work carry the most weight.
If you partner with a prosecutor's office or conviction integrity unit, the notice requires written policies protecting defendants' rights, plus concrete plans for attorney-client privilege waivers and informed consent. This is a named requirement, not boilerplate.
States and counties with in-house post-conviction representation must show demonstrable experience and competence litigating post-conviction innocence claims. Cite real cases and outcomes.
Review entities routinely stall because biological evidence cannot be found or was destroyed. An application that has not thought through evidence retention and location across partner agencies is proposing reviews it may not be able to finish.
The same assistance listing carries the Capital Case Litigation Initiative, which funds the quality of legal representation in capital cases. Different program, different notice, different deadline.
A starting list, not the official one. Each notice ends with its own application checklist, and that is the list to work from once a round opens.
