LAW & ORDER SHOCKER! REID SCOTT IS EXITING—AND A NEW DETECTIVE IS ALREADY ON THE WAY. K2 🚔

Reid Scott as Detective Vincent Riley on ‘Law & Order’.Credit: Virginia Sherwood/NBC via Getty

The Law & Order squad room is going to look quite different after season 26 thanks to a major cast shakeup. Entertainment Weekly can confirm that Reid Scott, the actor who’s played Det. Vincent Riley for three seasons, is leaving the long-running series.

Deadline first broke the news of the Veep alum’s exit, reporting that the split is an amicable one, despite the fact that the actor has decided to take his leave with one more year on his contract. Scott, who is based in California, made the decision because he no longer wants to be away from his family for nine months of the year while filming Law & Order in New York.

Scott is currently on the NBC set to film a few episodes wrapping up Det. Riley’s arc to ensure that the character has a proper send-off. At some point in the upcoming season 26, the position will be filled by a character played by James Badge Dale (Hightown) who will join the cast as a senior detective.

The exact episodes concluding Scott’s run and kicking off Dale’s remain unclear at this point.

Departures and an ever-revolving cast are common in a long-standing series like Law & Order; the news of Scott’s exit comes almost one year after Star Trek: Discovery alum David Ajala joined the cast as Det. Riley’s new partner after Mehcad Brooks, who spent three seasons as Det. Jalen Shaw, announced his departure from the series.

Dale will join the returning members of the Law & Order task force — including Tony Goldwyn, Hugh Dancy, Odelya Halevi, and Maura Tierney — when the show returns for season 26.

Law & Order originally debuted on NBC in 1990 and ran for 20 seasons until 2010. NBC then revived the series in 2022 for a 21st season. The show has spawned multiple spinoffs, including the current Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Organized Crime.

Law & Order season 26 will air on NBC in a new time slot on Thursdays at 10 p.m., following Law & Order: SVU at 9 p.m., and will premiere on Oct. 8.