Season 1 (1999–2000) •
Robert Palm leaves the show as
executive producer. •
Michelle Hurd (
Monique Jeffries) appears as a recurring character in episodes 1–13. She is then added to the main cast starting with the 14th episode.
Season 2 (2000–2001) •
Stephanie March (
Alexandra Cabot) and
Ice-T (
Fin Tutuola) join the cast. •
Michelle Hurd (
Monique Jeffries) leaves the cast after the episode "Runaway". •
Neal Baer begins taking over as
executive producer.
Season 3 (2001–2002) Season 4 (2002–2003) •
BD Wong (
George Huang) officially joins the cast.
Season 5 (2003–2004) •
Stephanie March (
ADA Alexandra Cabot) leaves the cast after the episode "Loss". Her character is "killed off" and put into the Witness Protection Program. March (Cabot) is replaced by
Diane Neal as
ADA Casey Novak in the episode "Serendipity".
Season 6 (2004–2005) •
Stephanie March returns to reprise her role as ADA Alexandra Cabot for one episode ("Ghost"). Her character was a regular on
SVU for seasons 2–5.
Season 7 (2005–2006) •
Tamara Tunie (
M.E. Melinda Warner) officially joins the cast.
Season 8 (2006–2007) •
Connie Nielsen had a six episode arc as
Det. Dani Beck from the episode "Clock" to the episode "Cage", not appearing in "Infiltrated".
Season 9 (2007–2008) •
Adam Beach (
Det. Chester Lake) joins the cast, then leaves with
Diane Neal (
ADA Casey Novak) at the end.
Season 10 (2008–2009) •
Michaela McManus (
ADA Kim Greylek) joins the cast after replacing
Diane Neal (
ADA Casey Novak) through the fifteenth episode, "Lead", where she is replaced by
Stephanie March (
ADA Alexandra Cabot) in a recurring capacity.
Season 11 (2009–2010) •
Christine Lahti had a four-episode arc as
Executive ADA Sonya Paxton; from the season premiere episode "Unstable" to "Hammered". She also returns in the eighth episode, "Turmoil". •
Stephanie March rejoined the cast as ADA Alexandra Cabot starting with the episode "Hardwired" to the episode "Witness". •
Sharon Stone had a four-episode arc as
ADA Jo Marlowe from the episode "Torch" to the season finale episode "Shattered".
Season 12 (2010–2011) •
Melissa Sagemiller has a continuous episode arc as
ADA Gillian Hardwicke starting with the episode "Branded" to the episode "Bombshell". •
Diane Neal returns to reprise her role as
ADA Casey Novak for one episode ("
Reparations"). Her character was a regular on
SVU from seasons 5–9. •
Neal Baer leaves the show as
executive producer at the end of the season. •
Christopher Meloni (
Det. Elliot Stabler),
BD Wong (
George Huang), and
Tamara Tunie (
Melinda Warner) leave the cast after the season finale ("
Smoked").
Season 13 (2011–2012) • The first season not to feature longtime cast member
Christopher Meloni, who left the series after 12 seasons in the twelfth season finale. •
Warren Leight begins taking over as executive producer. •
Danny Pino (
Det. Nick Amaro) and
Kelli Giddish (
Det. Amanda Rollins) join the cast. •
Stephanie March (
ADA Alexandra Cabot) and
Diane Neal (
ADA Casey Novak) both return as recurring characters. •
Tamara Tunie (
M.E. Melinda Warner) is moved from the main cast to a recurring role. •
BD Wong (
Dr. George Huang) reprises his role in "
Father Dearest" following his departure from the cast in July 2011.
Season 14 (2012–2013) •
Raúl Esparza has a continuous arc as ADA
Rafael Barba starting with the third episode.
Season 15 (2013–2014) •
Raúl Esparza (ADA
Rafael Barba) is promoted to the main cast. •
Richard Belzer (Sergeant
John Munch) departs the main cast after the fifth episode. •
Dann Florek (Captain
Don Cragen) departs the main cast after the eleventh episode.
Season 16 (2014–2015) •
Peter Scanavino joins as a recurring guest for the first three episodes, portraying
Det. Dominick "Sonny" Carisi, Jr. He is promoted to the main cast in the fifth episode. •
Danny Pino (
Det. Nick Amaro) departs the cast after the season finale ("
Surrendering Noah").
Season 17 (2015–2016) •
Andy Karl has a continuous arc as Sergeant Mike Dodds starting with "Maternal Instincts" to "Heartfelt Passages". •
BD Wong reprised his role as Dr. George Huang in the episode "Depravity Standard". This was his fourth appearance on the show since his departure at the end of season 12. •
Warren Leight leaves the show as executive producer at the end of the season. •
Richard Belzer makes his final appearance as Detective John Munch in the episode “Fashionable Crimes”
Season 18 (2016–2017) • Rick Eid takes over as executive producer. In May 2017, it was announced that he would depart the series as executive producer at the end of this season.
Season 19 (2017–2018) •
Sam Waterston reprises his role as
District Attorney Jack McCoy in the episode "The Undiscovered Country". •
Michael S. Chernuchin takes over as executive producer. •
Philip Winchester joins the cast in the thirteenth episode as Peter Stone following the cancellation of
Chicago Justice. •
Raúl Esparza departs the cast in the 13th episode, "The Undiscovered Country". ==Home video releases==