EconDefense
INT-38 / Domestic and interagency support

Share military information, equipment, facilities and expertise with civilian law enforcement

Provide lawfully collected information and controlled equipment/facility/training/maintenance support; selected equipment operations have enumerated statutory conditions. Separate authorities support Justice in specified WMD emergencies and bombing situations.

Action briefPDF dossier · original 168Download record
Authority / instrument · INT-38

Domestic interagency support

Domestic and interagency support

Statute & instrument
Authority holder

Secretary of Defense; requesting civilian agency retains its law-enforcement authority.

What this does not authorize / hard limit

Sharing normally collected information is not blanket permission to collect for civilian policing.

Recorded executor

Service/Defense Agency support providers

Continue to actor →

Recorded executing role; this record-specific route is not an additional institutional office.

Legal basisSources linkedLegal sources and instrument limits are recorded.
RequirementsGates recordedRead the requirements for this instrument; applicability depends on the proposed action.
Public fundingRules recordedReimbursable support or narrow training/operations benefit waiver; no free general assistance fund. Office budget figures are separate institutional context, not an allocation to this instrument.
Assigned rolesRoles recordedPublic sources describe institutional authority. The instrument identifies approval and execution roles; a specific signature remains transaction-dependent.
EngagementProcess sourcedLaw-enforcement support uses a government request-and-approval process, not an unrestricted police or private procurement power. Program check: 2026-10-04; see each route for intake status.

Public evidence describes the institution and instrument; it is not approval of an individual transaction.

At a glance

Possible toolINT-38 · Security & information
Legal basis10 U.S.C. § 271

Authority holder: Secretary of Defense; requesting civilian agency retains its law-enforcement authority.

Security & information

Mechanism tags describe the source text; they do not expand the authority.

Availability and verification

Existing statutory pathway; conditional on the listed findings, approvals, eligible purpose and actual available funds. Not an obligation-ready certification.

Program process and intake

Checked 2026-10-04 · process documented. Program evidence is separate from legal authority, available funds and transaction approval.

Law-enforcement support uses a government request-and-approval process, not an unrestricted police or private procurement power.

Defense support to civilian law enforcement

Who this route serves
Civilian law-enforcement agencies with a lawful support requirement
Administering office / routing lead
Requesting civilian agency and designated DoD approving/supporting officials
Direct implementation

The instruction implements defense support to civilian law enforcement; the precise statutory support category still governs.

What this evidence label means
Published government request framework

The issuance register lists DoDI 3025.21 with its February 2019 change. Specific support still requires legal, readiness and approval review.

Status reference date: 2026-10-04 · research checked 2026-10-04

DoDI3025.21 — Defense Support of Civilian Law Enforcement · February 27, 2013, change1 February 8, 2019; request, approval and support restrictionsofficial implementation guidance · published 2019-02-08 · Evidence record

Program eligibility

Steps and preparation

Funding, limits and authority relationship

Funding and financial terms

  • Reimbursable government support · Statutory conditions; no available balance established

    Apply § 277 reimbursement requirements and any actual statutory exception; assistance is not presumptively free.

    10 U.S.C. § 277 · 2024 edition (GovInfo) · 10 U.S.C. § 277statute · Evidence record

Exclusions and limits

Authority relationship source

DoDI3025.21 — Defense Support of Civilian Law Enforcement · February 27, 2013, change1 February 8, 2019; request, approval and support restrictionsofficial implementation guidance · published 2019-02-08 · Evidence record

Read the governing source →

reference, not an application portal: This source does not accept funding applications.

Source access and verification notes
Research scope and sources checked

Read the current issuance-register entry and public implementation passages against the record’s chapter15 provisions; did not equate all domestic military activity with this route.

What remains unverified

  • No particular operation’s legality, approval or reimbursement waiver is established; emergency or other exceptional authorities must be analyzed separately.

A dated source check is not continuing monitoring. Recheck the linked official notice before preparing a submission. Browse program research →

Requirements and limits

Eligibility & prerequisites

  • Valid request and authorized support category; mission preparedness and applicable-law review.
  • Economy Act/other reimbursement unless statutory waiver conditions met.
  • §§282-283 need Attorney General request and applicable joint rules; §282 requires joint emergency finding, unavailable civilian capability and no adverse preparedness effect.

Limits & exclusions

  • §275 prohibits specified direct military searches, seizures, arrests or similar acts unless otherwise authorized by law.
  • Sharing normally collected information is not blanket permission to collect for civilian policing.
  • Posse Comitatus and other constitutional/statutory limits require separate application.
  • §§282-283 normally bar direct arrest, evidence search/seizure and law-enforcement intelligence collection, with expressly bounded immediate-life-protection or otherwise-lawful exceptions; not general domestic police jurisdiction.

Funding conditions

  • Reimbursable support or narrow training/operations benefit waiver; no free general assistance fund.

Read the funding and execution guide

Who contributes what

Need & planning

  • Civilian law-enforcement requesting agency
  • CCMD/Service support planners
    Office profile

Resources

  • Supporting DoD appropriation with reimbursement as required

Approval

  • Secretary of Defense/authorized official
    Office profile
  • Attorney General and State joint approvals for specified §274 tasks

Execution

Partners & review

  • DOJ/FBI, DHS, State/local law-enforcement officials as appropriate

Office links are editorial matches to the original role text, not verified delegations. Composite labels and unmatched actors are preserved.

Coordination pathway

Partner law-enforcement need → Defense support review → purpose/reimbursement/operational limits → approved support while civilian agency exercises coercive powers.

Actor and execution-role sources

Legal basis

What this research establishes

Legal basisSources linkedLegal sources and instrument limits are recorded.
RequirementsGates recordedRead the requirements for this instrument; applicability depends on the proposed action.
Public fundingRules recordedReimbursable support or narrow training/operations benefit waiver; no free general assistance fund. Office budget figures are separate institutional context, not an allocation to this instrument.
Assigned rolesRoles recordedPublic sources describe institutional authority. The instrument identifies approval and execution roles; a specific signature remains transaction-dependent.
EngagementProcess sourcedLaw-enforcement support uses a government request-and-approval process, not an unrestricted police or private procurement power. Program check: 2026-10-04; see each route for intake status.

Confidence: High on express statutory capability; execution/delegation and currently available resources require program-specific confirmation.

Currentness: GovInfo 2024 U.S. Code baseline read; relevant FY2026 NDAA (Pub. L. 119-60, enacted 2025-12-18) amendments reviewed. Target 2026-10-02; source-specific OLRC checks and remaining delta are documented in international.md. No certification of current funds or executed delegations.

Review scope: Original research target October 2, 2026; no record-specific last-review date supplied. Publication is not legal-currentness certification.

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