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RULE OF LAW DEFENSE FUND

EIN 46-5130903 WASHINGTON, DC

Revenue 2024
$4,441,630
Expenses 2024
$5,792,108

Program services were 71.3% of total expenses calculated — Part IX's program-services column over total expenses, both as filed.

As filed

Subsection
04
NTEE code
P20
Classification
3000
Street
1747 PENNSYLVANIA AVE NW STE 800

These codes are the IRS's own and are shown exactly as filed. What each one means is in the Business Master File documentation (opens in a new tab).

Mission and programs · 2024

Mission

TO SHARE BEST PRACTICES AMONG STATE ATTORNEYS GENERAL; PROVIDE A FORUM AMONG STATE ATTORNEYS GENERAL FOR DISCUSSION OF FEDERAL AND STATE LEGISLATION AND RULE MAKING; ASSIST IN THE FORMULATION OF STATE AND MULTISTATE POLICY DEVELOPMENT; AND ENGAGE FEDERAL POLICYMAKERS REGARDING INTERESTS OF THE STATES.

  • EVENT COSTS INCLUDING TRAVEL, WORKSHOPS, ROUNDTABLES AND SEMINARS ON FEDERAL AND STATE POLICY MATTERS. RULE OF LAW DEFENSE FUND (RLDF) EVENTS ARE HELD TO FURTHER EDUCATION OF ATTORNEYS GENERAL STAFF AND OTHER STAKEHOLDER ON POLICY AND LEGAL DEVELOPMENT IN STATES AND IN WASHINGTON DC.

    Expenses $3,422,919

  • STAFF, OCCUPANCY, AND RESEARCH COSTS TOWARD PROVISION OF FEDERAL LAND STATE LEGAL AND POLICY ANALYSIS. STAFF/CONSULTANTS PROVIDE RESEARCH SUPPORT, LEGAL AND POLICY ANALYSIS, AND BEST PRACTICES WHICH ARE DISSEMINATED VIA MEDIA, PHONE, EMAIL AND WEBSITE.

    Expenses $704,825

As filed on the 2024 return. The filer continues this part on Schedule O, which is not shown here.

Officers and directors · 2024

As listed in Part VII of the 2024 return, in the order the filer printed them. Each return names its own; this is not a roster the organization keeps with us.

  • BRENNA BIRD

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • AUSTIN KNDUSEN

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • KRIS KOBACH

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • JOHNATHAN SKRMETTI

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • MIKE HILGERS

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • LIZ MURRILL

    CHAIRPERSON

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • KEN PAXTON

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • RAUL LABRADOR

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • ANDREW BAILY

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • LEE RUSSELL

    TREASURER

    Total calculated
    $241,849
    From this org
    $106,174
    From related orgs
    $106,173
    Other
    $29,502
    Hours/week
    20 + 20 related

    Schedule J breakdown matched by us

    Base
    $92,530 + $92,530 related
    Bonus
    $13,644 + $13,643 related
    Other
    $0
    Deferred
    $6,370 + $6,370 related
    Nontaxable benefits
    $8,381 + $8,381 related
    Filer's total
    $120,925 + $120,924 related

  • DAVID JOHNSON

    PRESIDENT

    Total calculated
    $277,629
    From this org
    $222,460
    From related orgs
    $24,718
    Other
    $30,451
    Hours/week
    36 + 4 related

    Schedule J breakdown matched by us

    Base
    $193,873 + $21,542 related
    Bonus
    $28,587 + $3,176 related
    Other
    $0
    Deferred
    $13,438 + $1,493 related
    Nontaxable benefits
    $13,968 + $1,552 related
    Filer's total
    $249,866 + $27,763 related

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those. A Schedule J breakdown is as filed: base pay, bonus, other, deferred compensation and nontaxable benefits from this organization, with any from related organizations beside each, and the filer's own total. It is shown with the Part VII listing of the same name on the same return. The form gives no key between the two, so that pairing is ours, and is marked matched by us. Earlier years are each on their own filing page.

Filings

  • 2024
    Revenue
    $4,441,630
    Expenses
    $5,792,108
    Contributions
    $4,441,630
    Grants paid
    $0
  • 2023
    Revenue
    $4,014,200
    Expenses
    $2,450,583
    Contributions
    $4,014,200
    Grants paid
    $0
  • 2022
    Revenue
    $3,065,892
    Expenses
    $2,695,896
    Contributions
    $3,065,892
    Grants paid
    $0

The four totals the IRS asks for on Part I of the Form 990, as filed. A dash means the figure was not present on the return — not that it was zero.

Other returns filed

  • 2021 · 990

    Revenue
    $951,175
    Expenses
    $1,332,900
    Assets (EOY)
    $91,497

  • 2020 · 990

    Revenue
    $2,425,525
    Expenses
    $2,246,852
    Assets (EOY)
    $470,092

  • 2020 · 990

    Revenue
    $2,425,525
    Expenses
    $2,246,852
    Assets (EOY)
    $470,092

  • 2020 · 990

    Revenue
    $2,425,525
    Expenses
    $2,246,852
    Assets (EOY)
    $470,092

Nonprofiteer parses Forms 990, 990-EZ and 990-PF, in a window of recent tax years. These returns are recorded from the IRS e-file index, so their figures were extracted by that index rather than read from the return here — treat them as a different source from the filings above, not as more of the same record. A dash means the index carries no figure; Form 990-T listings carry none at all.

Grants made

No itemized grants to organizations. Schedule I is filed only by organizations that granted more than $5,000 to a recipient, so most filers have none.

Grants received

The 10 largest by cash amount. The API serves every itemized grant.

Related organizations

From Schedule R Part II, where a filer lists the tax-exempt organizations it is related to by control. It does not record shared board members or money.

Declared on its 2024 return

Other IRS files

Auto-Revocation List

Not listed. The IRS publishes this list for organizations whose exemption was automatically revoked for failing to file for three consecutive years.

Publication 78

Not present in the most recent drop.

These are two separate IRS files on two separate schedules, shown as published and not reconciled with each other. Neither is a statement about whether a contribution is deductible today: 19,245 organizations appear in Publication 78 while the IRS's own revocation file lists them as currently revoked, more than half of those revoked before 2019. Absence from Publication 78 is evidence of nothing, and presence is not evidence either. Verify current status with the IRS before relying on it.

What this page reflects

The registration facts above come from the IRS Business Master File published 13 October 2026 and read 26 October 2026, for every organization at once. Returns through tax year 2024, the newest we have parsed for this organization.