Law & Order: Special Victims Unit continues to shatter TV records as it completes its 26th season on the air, and the procedural will return for season 27. Launched in 1999 as a spin off of Dick Wolf's wildly successful Law & Order, SVU follows the detectives of the NYPD's Special Victims Unit, a division that specializes in investigating sexually-based offenses throughout the city. Managing to outlive the flagship Law & Order series (which was canceled in 2010 but has since been revived), SVU continues to set the record as the longest-running live-action scripted series in TV history.

Anchoring the series since its inception in the 1990s, Mariska Hargitay's Olivia Benson is the heart and soul of SVU, even though Benson's team has changed drastically over the years. Despite these changes, SVU continues to pull in big viewership numbers and shows no signs of slowing down as it begins to creep close to its groundbreaking 30th season. Though SVU is a spin off, it has become something of a flagship series for the entire franchise, and the continued popularity of Special Victims Unit not only guarantees season 27, but helps spur on additional seasons of the other spin offs.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 27 Latest News

Changes Are On The Way For SVU

In addition to NBC announcing a renewal for Law & Order: SVU, there are also some changes coming to the show. Two of the newer cast (Juliana Martinez and Octavio Pisano) are out with a familiar face (Kelli Giddish) returning full-time, which will cause the series to shake up the dynamic of the cast a little bit going forward. There is also a shakeup behind the scenes.

SVU is getting a new showrunner for season 26. Michele Fazekas replaces David Graziano, who has been the showrunner for the last three seasons. Fazekas is no stranger to the series though. She wrote and produced during the show's earlier seasons, which could mean a return to the style of the early days of the series. Fazekas is also the first female showrunner in the show's 26-year history.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 27 Is Confirmed

SVU Is Part Of NBC's Fall 2025 Lineup

Law & Order: SVU is on solid ground, but that's not to say the entire franchise is so certain

NBC renewed SVU season 27, announcing the renewal just one week before the season 26 finale. The original Law & Order series has also been renewed by the network. Fortunately for fans of the long-running procedural, there's almost no chance that NBC would pull the plug so suddenly on one of its crown jewels. It's likely the network would make an announcement ahead of time to allow closure for fans and the show as a whole.

Law & Order: SVU is on solid ground, but that's not to say the entire franchise is so certain. While the original Law & Order is stable enough to earn another outing, Law & Order: Organized Crime is anything but guaranteed. The Stabler-centric spin off was made into a Peacock exclusive for its fifth season. While this will likely have no effect on SVU, the faltering of Organized Crime does prove that the Law & Order franchise is potentially vulnerable.

Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU will air on Thursday nights on NBC when the 2025 television season begins.

Law & Order: SVU season 26 debuted on October 3, 2024, and concluded on May 15, 2025.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 27 Cast Details

Expect Benson & Her Team To Return For Season 27

Though changes in the cast are an almost constant phenomenon in Law & Order: SVU's long history, the cast of season 27 will mostly remain consistent. Mariska Hargitay will return as Captain Olvia Benson, a role she's played since the show began in 1999. ing Hargitay will be long-time co-star Ice-T as Sergeant "Fin" Tutuola, alongside Peter Scanavino as Assistant District Attorney Dominick Carisi, Jr. Also expected back is Kevin Kane as Detective Terry Bruno

There are, however, two major cast departures for SVU season 27. Junior Detective Joe Velasco (played by Octavio Pisano) is not returning after season 26 and the newest member of Benson's team, played by Juliana Aidén Martinez, will not reprise her role as Junior Detective Kate Silva.

Previously, one question mark was the return of Kelli Giddish as Sergeant Amanda Rollins. Giddish was let go from the series in season 24, but the actor has continued to drop back in because of her character's ties to the team. Giddish was upgraded to a recurring guest star for season 26, but has been renamed a series regular for season 27.

The presumptive cast of Law & Order: SVU season 27 includes:

Law & Order: SVU has made good use of its shared universe in the past, allowing the series to cross over with other shows under the umbrella of Dick Wolf's creations. That means that season 27 could also see characters pop up from the Chicago universe or the other Law & Order series. Season 26 did feature a crossover with the flagship show, and Chris Meloni, who stars in Organized Crime, and Mariska Hargitay have both appeared in crossovers due to the relationship between their characters. Fans can likely expect more of that in the coming season.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 27 Story Details

More Cases For The SVU Team To Crack

There aren't going to be too many surprises in the story of Law & Order: SVU season 27, and the series has been remarkably consistent for its nearly 30-year run. As is the case with most of the best procedurals on TV, each SVU episode is a standalone story involving a case for the team to solve before the conclusion of the weekly installment. Sometimes SVU will tackle cases ripped from the headlines, and others are totally fictional.

What we do know about SVU season 27 is that Benson will have at least one open spot on her team. With the departure of Velasco (who received a promotion in the season 26 finale), that leaves room for Rollins to become an SVU team member again if the show does not keep her as part of the Intelligence Unit to start the season. While Silva was not written out in the season 26 finale, the actor is not returning for season 27, so that would potentially leave another open spot on the team for a new character to .

It's also possible that the case of the season 26 finale - a serial killer who targeted therapists - could return in season 27. The finale ended with the word that the confession Benson and her team got might not be recognized in court, leaving room for the show to further explore the court case in the future. That could provide the show with a smaller arc to follow about procedure in serial cases in Law & Order: SVU season 27, since the series has not been shy about revisiting previous cases even years later.

It's impossible to predict exactly what will happen in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit season 27, though fans know that most of their favorite characters will be back.