Alaska Tribal Public Safety Empowerment Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2616 To provide civil and criminal jurisdiction over Alaska Natives and non-Alaska Natives for certain Indian tribes in the State of Alaska. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 16, 2019 Ms. MURKOWSKI introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs A BILL To provide civil and criminal jurisdiction over Alaska Natives and non-Alaska Natives for certain Indian tribes in the State of Alaska. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Alaska Tribal Public 4 Safety Empowerment Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds that— 7 (1) according to the report of the Indian Law 8 and Order Commission established by section 15 of 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Oct 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2616.IS S2616 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2616 IS the Indian Law Enforcement Reform Act (25 U.S.C. 1 2812), Alaska Native women— 2 (A) are overrepresented in the domestic vi- 3 olence victim population by 250 percent; 4 (B) in the State of Alaska, comprise— 5 (i) 19 percent of the population of the 6 State; but 7 (ii) 47 percent of reported rape vic- 8 tims in the State; and 9 (C) as compared to the populations of 10 other Indian tribes, suffer the highest rates of 11 domestic and sexual violence; 12 (2) most Alaska Native villages are located in 13 remote areas that— 14 (A) are often inaccessible by road; and 15 (B) have no local law enforcement pres- 16 ence; 17 (3) the Commission referred to in paragraph 18 (1)— 19 (A) determined that the Alaska Depart- 20 ment of Public Safety— 21 (i) has primary responsibility for law 22 enforcement in rural Alaska; but 23 (ii) provides only 1 to 1.4 field officers 24 per 1,000,000 acres; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Oct 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2616.IS S2616 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2616 IS (B) recommended that ‘‘devolving author- 1 ity to Alaska Native communities is essential 2 for addressing local crime. Their governments 3 are best positioned to effectively arrest, pros- 4 ecute, and punish, and they should have the au- 5 thority to do so, or to work out voluntary agree- 6 ments with each other, and with local govern- 7 ments and the State on mutually beneficial 8 terms’’; and 9 (4) the unique legal relationship of the United 10 States to Indian tribes creates a Federal trust re- 11 sponsibility to assist Tribal governments in safe- 12 guarding the lives of Indian women. 13 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 14 In this Act: 15 (1) ALASKA NATIVE.—The term ‘‘Alaska Na- 16 tive’’ means an individual who— 17 (A) is a member of an Indian tribe; 18 (B) is eligible for membership in an Indian 19 tribe; or 20 (C) is regarded as an Alaska Native by the 21 community in which the individual resides. 22 (2) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 23 has the meaning given the term in section 102 of the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Oct 24, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2616.IS S2616 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2616 IS Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 1 (25 U.S.C. 5130). 2 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 3 of Alaska. 4 (4) VILLAGE.—The term ‘‘village’’ means the 5 Alaska Native Village Statistical Area covering all or 6 any portion of a Native village (as defined in section 7 3 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 8 U.S.C. 1602)). 9 SEC. 4. TRIBAL JURISDICTION IN ALASKA. 10 (a) ALASKA NATIVES.—Subject to title II of the Civil 11 Rights Act of 1968 (25 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.) (commonly 12 known as the ‘‘Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968’’), and re- 13 gardless of the holder of title in and to any applicable land, 14 Congress recognizes and affirms that any Indian tribe in 15 the State occupying a village may exercise, as part of the 16 inherent authority of the Indian tribe— 17 (1) criminal and civil jurisdiction over all Alas- 18 ka Natives present in the village; and 19 (2) full civil jurisdiction within the village— 20 (A) to issue and enforce protection orders 21 involving any individual, including the authority 22 to enforce such an order through a civil con- 23 tempt proceeding; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Oct 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2616.IS S2616 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2616 IS (B) to exclude violators from the village; 1 and 2 (C) to use other appropriate mechanisms 3 to address matters arising anywhere in the vil- 4 lage that are the subject of protection orders. 5 (b) PILOT PROGRAM FOR JURISDICTION OVER INDI- 6 VIDUALS WHO ARE NOT ALASKA NATIVES.— 7 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Subject to title II of the 8 Civil Rights Act of 1968 (25 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.) 9 (commonly known as the ‘‘Indian Civil Rights Act of 10 1968’’), and regardless of the holder of title in and 11 to any applicable land, there is established a pilot 12 program under which the Attorney General shall se- 13 lect for each calendar year not more than five Indian 14 tribes selected under paragraph (2) to exercise the 15 civil and criminal jurisdiction described in paragraph 16 (5) over all individuals present in the village occu- 17 pied by the Indian tribe who are not subject to the 18 jurisdiction of the Indian tribe under subsection 19 (a)(1). 20 (2) SELECTION OF QUALIFYING INDIAN 21 TRIBES.—The Attorney General, in consultation 22 with the Secretary of the Interior, shall select Indian 23 tribes to participate in the pilot program established 24 by paragraph (1), subject to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Oct 24, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2616.IS S2616 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2616 IS (A) the condition that preference shall be 1 given to Indian tribes occupying villages— 2 (i) the populations of which are pre- 3 dominantly Alaska Native; or 4 (ii) that lack a permanent State law 5 enforcement presence; and 6 (B) such other criteria as the Attorney 7 General considers to be appropriate to achieve 8 the purposes of this Act. 9 (3) QUALIFYING INTERTRIBAL CONSORTIA.— 10 Any two or more qualifying Indian tribes, or a tribal 11 organization (as defined in section 4 of the Indian 12 Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act 13 (25 U.S.C. 5304)) that is acting on behalf of two or 14 more qualifying Indian tribes— 15 (A) may elect to participate jointly in the 16 pilot program under this subsection by pro- 17 viding shared resources to carry out the pur- 18 poses of the pilot program; and 19 (B) on making an election pursuant to 20 subparagraph (A), shall be considered to be a 21 single Indian tribe for purposes of the max- 22 imum number of participants in the pilot pro- 23 gram under paragraphs (1) and (4). 24 (4) MAXIMUM NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Oct 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2616.IS S2616 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2616 IS (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 1 subparagraph (B), the Attorney General may 2 select not more than 30 Indian tribes to partici- 3 pate in the pilot program under this subsection. 4 (B) EXCEPTION.—The limitation under 5 subparagraph (A) shall not apply if the Attor- 6 ney General submits to the Committee on In- 7 dian Affairs of the Senate and the Committee 8 on Natural Resources of the House of Rep- 9 resentatives a notice of the intention to select 10 any additional Indian tribe by not later than 11 the date that is 180 days before the date of se- 12 lection. 13 (5) DESCRIPTION OF JURISDICTION.—Congress 14 recognizes and affirms that an Indian tribe selected 15 to participate in the pilot program under this sub- 16 section may exercise the inherent authority of the 17 Indian tribe over all individuals described in para- 18 graph (1) through— 19 (A) general civil jurisdiction; and 20 (B) subject to paragraph (6), criminal ju- 21 risdiction with respect to (as defined in applica- 22 ble Tribal law)— 23 (i) the crimes of— 24 (I) domestic violence; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Oct 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2616.IS S2616 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2616 IS (II) dating violence; 1 (III) violation of a protective 2 order; 3 (IV) sexual violence; 4 (V) stalking; 5 (VI) sex trafficking; 6 (VII) obstruction of justice; and 7 (VIII) assault of a law enforce- 8 ment or correctional officer; 9 (ii) any crime against a child; and 10 (iii) any crime involving the posses- 11 sion, transportation, or sale of alcohol or 12 drugs where that possession, transpor- 13 tation, or sale is prohibited by an applica- 14 ble Federal, State, or Tribal law. 15 (6) RIGHTS OF DEFENDANTS.—In exercising 16 the jurisdiction described in paragraph (5)(B), an 17 Indian tribe participating in the pilot program under 18 this subsection shall provide to each defendant all 19 rights described in section 204(d) of the Civil Rights 20 Act of 1968 (25 U.S.C. 1304(d)) (commonly known 21 as the ‘‘Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968’’). 22 (c) MEMORANDA OF AGREEMENT.—An Indian tribe 23 participating in the pilot program under subsection (b), 24 the State, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Oct 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2616.IS S2616 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2616 IS Interior may enter into such memoranda of agreement as 1 are necessary and appropriate— 2 (1) to coordinate respective law enforcement ac- 3 tivities; 4 (2) to share equipment and other resources; 5 (3) to establish cross-deputization arrange- 6 ments; 7 (4) to coordinate appropriate training activities; 8 and 9 (5) to address any other matters that will facili- 10 tate the successful implementation of the pilot pro- 11 gram. 12 (d) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 5 years 13 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney Gen- 14 eral, in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, 15 shall submit to Congress a report describing the results 16 of the pilot program under subsection (b), including legis- 17 lative recommendations to facilitate improved law enforce- 18 ment in villages. 19 SEC. 5. SPECIAL FULL FAITH AND CREDIT FOR PROTEC- 20 TION ORDERS. 21 Section 2265(e) of title 18, United States Code, is 22 amended— 23 (1) by striking ‘‘For purposes’’ and inserting 24 the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Oct 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2616.IS S2616 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 2616 IS ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes’’; and 1 (2) by adding at the end the following: 2 ‘‘(2) APPLICABILITY TO ALASKA.—Paragraph 3 (1) applies to all Indian tribes in the State of Alas- 4 ka, regardless of— 5 ‘‘(A) the definition of the term ‘Indian 6 country’ contained in section 1151; or 7 ‘‘(B) the population of the Native village 8 (as defined in section 3 of the Alaska Native 9 Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1602)) occu- 10 pied by such an Indian tribe.’’. 11 SEC. 6. EFFECT. 12 Nothing in this Act— 13 (1) diminishes the jurisdiction of the State or 14 the Federal Government, as in effect on the date of 15 enactment of this Act, over any criminal or civil 16 matter; 17 (2) creates or eliminates any area of Indian 18 country (as defined in section 1151 of title 18, 19 United States Code) in the State; or 20 (3) diminishes any authority of an Indian tribe 21 in the State under any other law, including— 22 (A) the Violence Against Women Act of 23 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12291 et seq.); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Oct 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2616.IS S2616 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 2616 IS (B) the Violence Against Women Reau- 1 thorization Act of 2013 (Public Law 113–4; 34 2 U.S.C. 10101 note) and the amendments made 3 by that Act. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Oct 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2616.IS S2616 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS