US Codex
Bill
Notes

Tribal Law and Order Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2019

S. 210 · 116th Congress · Jan 24, 2019 · Lineage

A BILL

To amend the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010 and the Indian Law Enforcement Reform Act to provide for advancements in public safety services to Indian communities, and for other purposes.

1. Short title; table of contents

(a)
Short title— This Act may be cited as the “Tribal Law and Order Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2019”.
(b)
Table of contents— The table of contents for this Act is as follows:

2. Findings

Congress finds that—
(1)
the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010 (25 U.S.C. 2801 note; Public Law 111–211) was enacted to enhance law enforcement services, encourage interagency cooperation, and improve Federal accountability for public safety in Indian communities;
(2)
in 2013, the Bureau of Indian Affairs reported increases in property crimes and violent crimes in Indian country;
(3)
according to the Department of Justice, in 2014, 34 percent of the total Indian country criminal matters submitted for prosecution were declined, a percentage that has not decreased significantly since the date of enactment of the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010 (25 U.S.C. 2801 note; Public Law 111–211) and has remained fairly steady;
(4)
drug and alcohol abuse is a key contributing factor to violence and crime in Indian communities;
(5)
substance abuse prevention and treatment, including detention-based treatment, are critical to reducing the rates of recidivism in Indian communities;
(6)
during the period beginning in 2010 and ending on the date of enactment of this Act, the number of law enforcement officers working on public safety in Indian country has slightly increased, but according to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, only approximately 43 percent of the total need for those officers is currently being met;
(7)
for a period of more than 40 years prior to the date of enactment of this Act, the Shadow Wolves, a special unit of tactical officers of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, have been deployed throughout the Tohono O'odham Nation reservation in Arizona and have been operating in an area—
(A)
of more than 5,000 square miles of vast, desert, tribal land in the Southwest, 75 square miles of which is an area located along the United States border with Mexico;
(B)
in which approximately 28,000 Indians reside; and
(C)
that has been targeted by criminal organizations for use as a major corridor to deliver contraband from Mexico to locations throughout the United States, including other Indian reservations;
(8)
many Bureau of Indian Affairs and tribal detention facilities continue to operate in overcrowded conditions;
(9)
tribes continue to encounter barriers to accessing and entering information into national crime information databases for criminal and civil purposes and additional options are needed to ensure Indian tribes can fully participate in the 2-way sharing of criminal justice information so that all tribal justice and public safety agencies have access to the data needed to keep their communities safe;
(10)
American Indian and Alaska Native juveniles are overrepresented in Federal and State juvenile justice systems;
(11)
there is a lack of training (including trauma-informed training and practices), collaboration, communication, and cooperation among government agencies regarding juvenile justice for Indian youth;
(12)
tribal youth in the Federal justice system—
(A)
may spend more time in secure confinement than youth in State justice systems, sometimes by several years; and
(B)
may be placed in facilities located far away from the communities and families of the tribal youth; and
(13)
appropriate services for tribal youth in the Federal and tribal justice systems are unavailable.