II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5453 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide Tribal courts and law 

enforcement with more tools to combat the opioid epidemic. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 9, 2024 

Mr. DAINES (for himself and Ms. SMITH) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide Tribal 

courts and law enforcement with more tools to combat 

the opioid epidemic. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protection for Reserva5 tion Occupants against Trafficking and Evasive Commu6 nications Today Act of 2024’’ or the ‘‘PROTECT Act of 

7 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TRIBAL COURT SEARCH WARRANT PARITY FOR 

2 ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS. 

3 Chapter 121 of title 18, United States Code, is 

4 amended— 

5 (1) in section 2703— 

6 (A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘issued 

7 using State warrant procedures and,’’ and in8 serting ‘‘issued using State warrant procedures, 

9 or, in the case of a Tribal court, issued using 

10 the warrant procedures described in section 202 

11 of Public Law 90–284 (25 U.S.C. 1302) (com12 monly known as the ‘Indian Civil Rights Act of 

13 1968’), or,’’; 

14 (B) in subsection (b)(1)— 

15 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

16 ‘‘issued using State warrant procedures 

17 and,’’ and inserting ‘‘issued using State 

18 warrant procedures, or, in the case of a 

19 Tribal court, issued using warrant proce20 dures described in section 202 of Public 

21 Law 90–284 (25 U.S.C. 1302) (commonly 

22 known as the ‘Indian Civil Rights Act of 

23 1968’), or,’’; and 

24 (ii) in subparagraph (B)(i), by strik25 ing ‘‘authorized by a Federal or State statVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:40 Jan 02, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5453.IS S5453

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1 ute’’ and inserting ‘‘authorized by a Fed2 eral, Tribal, or State statute’’; and 

3 (C) in subsection (c)(1)(A), by striking 

4 ‘‘issued using State warrant procedures and,’’ 

5 and inserting ‘‘issued using State warrant pro6 cedures, or, in the case of a Tribal court, issued 

7 using the warrant procedures described in sec8 tion 202 of Public Law 90–284 (25 U.S.C. 

9 1302) (commonly known as the ‘Indian Civil 

10 Rights Act of 1968’), or,’’; and 

11 (2) in section 2711— 

12 (A) in paragraph (3)— 

13 (i) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

14 ‘‘or’’ at the end; 

15 (ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

16 ‘‘and’’ at the end and inserting ‘‘or’’; and 

17 (iii) by inserting at the end the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(D) a court established by the governing 

20 body of any Indian or Alaska Native tribe, 

21 band, nation, pueblo, village, community, com22 ponent band, or component reservation individ23 ually identified (including parenthetically) on 

24 the list published by the Secretary under sec25 tion 104 of the Federally Recognized Indian 


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1 Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131); and’’; 

2 and 

3 (B) in paragraph (4), by inserting before 

4 the period at the end the following: ‘‘, or the 

5 governing body of any Indian or Alaska Native 

6 tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village, community, 

7 component band, or component reservation indi8 vidually identified (including parenthetically) on 

9 the list published by the Secretary under sec10 tion 104 of the Federally Recognized Indian 

11 Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131)’’. 

12 SEC. 3. TRIBAL JURISDICTION OVER DRUG TRAFFICKING, 

13 RELATED OFFENSES, AND FIREARMS. 

14 Section 204 of Public Law 90–284 (25 U.S.C. 1304) 

15 (commonly known as the ‘‘Indian Civil Rights Act of 

16 1968’’) is amended— 

17 (1) in subsection (a)— 

18 (A) in paragraph (5)— 

19 (i) in subparagraph (H), by striking 

20 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

21 (ii) in subparagraph (I), by striking 

22 the period at the end and inserting a semi23 colon; and 

24 (iii) by inserting at the end the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(J) drug trafficking and related offenses; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(K) firearms offense.’’; and 

4 (B) by inserting at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(18) The term ‘drug trafficking and related 

6 offenses’ means a violation of the criminal law of the 

7 Indian tribe that has jurisdiction over the Indian 

8 country where the violation occurs that involves the 

9 manufacture, delivery, or possession, or attempt or 

10 conspiracy to do the same, of— 

11 ‘‘(A) a controlled substance as defined in 

12 section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act, 

13 (21 U.S.C. 802); 

14 ‘‘(B) a counterfeit substance as defined in 

15 section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act 

16 (21 U.S.C. 802); or 

17 ‘‘(C) drug paraphernalia, as defined in sec18 tion 422(d) of the Controlled Substances Act 

19 (21 U.S.C. 863(d)). 

20 ‘‘(19) The term ‘firearms offense’ means a vio21 lation of the criminal law of the Indian tribe that 

22 has jurisdiction over the Indian country where the 

23 violation occurs that involves the use or possession 

24 of a firearm in furtherance of a covered crime or the 


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1 use or possession of a firearm by a person who has 

2 been convicted of domestic violence.’’; and 

3 (2) in subsection (b)(4)(A), by striking ‘‘or as4 sault of Tribal justice personnel,’’ and inserting ‘‘, 

5 assault of Tribal justice personnel, drug trafficking 

6 or related offenses, or a firearms offense,’’. 

7 SEC. 4. BUREAU OF PRISONS TRIBAL PRISONER PROGRAM. 

8 Paragraph (2)(B) of section 234(c) of the Tribal Law 

9 and Order Act of 2010 (25 U.S.C. 1302a) is amended by 

10 inserting ‘‘or offenders convicted pursuant to the exercise 

11 of special Tribal criminal jurisdiction described in section 

12 204 of Public Law 90–284 (25 U.S.C. 1304) (commonly 

13 known as the ‘Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968’)’’ after 

14 ‘‘(comparable to the violent crimes described in section 

15 1153(a) of title 18)’’. 

Æ 


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