II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1853 

To require Federal law enforcement agencies to report on cases of missing 

or murdered Indians, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 13, 2019 

Mr. UDALL (for himself, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. TESTER, Ms. MURKOWSKI, 

Ms. MCSALLY, and Ms. SMITH) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs 

A BILL 

To require Federal law enforcement agencies to report on 

cases of missing or murdered Indians, and for other 

purposes. 

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Bridging Agency Data Gaps and Ensuring Safety for 

6 Native Communities Act’’ or the ‘‘BADGES for Native 

7 Communities Act’’. 

8 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

9 this Act is as follows: 


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Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

TITLE I—BRIDGING AGENCY DATA GAPS 

Sec. 101. Federal law enforcement database reporting requirements. 

Sec. 102. National Missing and Unidentified Persons System Tribal liaison. 

Sec. 103. Law enforcement data sharing with Indian tribes. 

Sec. 104. Report on Indian country law enforcement personnel resources and 

need. 

TITLE II—ENSURING SAFETY FOR NATIVE COMMUNITIES 

Sec. 201. Demonstration program on Bureau of Indian Affairs law enforcement 

employment background checks. 

Sec. 202. Missing and murdered response coordination grant program. 

Sec. 203. GAO study on Federal law enforcement agency evidence collection, 

handling, and processing. 

Sec. 204. Bureau of Indian Affairs and Tribal law enforcement officer counseling resources interdepartmental coordination. 

1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

4 the Director of the Office of Justice Services. 

5 (2) FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.— 

6 The term ‘‘Federal law enforcement agency’’ means 

7 the Bureau of Indian Affairs direct-service police, 

8 the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and any other 

9 Federal law enforcement agency that— 

10 (A) has jurisdiction over crimes in Indian 

11 country; or 

12 (B) investigates missing persons cases of 

13 interest to Indian tribes, murder cases of inter14 est to Indian tribes, or unidentified remains 

15 cases of interest to Indian tribes. 


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1 (3) INDIAN.—The term ‘‘Indian’’ has the mean2 ing given the term in section 4 of the Indian Self3 Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 

4 U.S.C. 5304). 

5 (4) INDIAN COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘Indian coun6 try’’ has the meaning given the term in section 1151 

7 of title 18, United States Code. 

8 (5) INDIAN LAND.—The term ‘‘Indian land’’ 

9 has the meaning given the term ‘‘Indian lands’’ in 

10 section 3 of the Native American Business Develop11 ment, Trade Promotion, and Tourism Act of 2000 

12 (25 U.S.C. 4302). 

13 (6) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 

14 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 

15 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

16 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

17 (7) MANSLAUGHTER.—The term ‘‘man18 slaughter’’ has the meaning given the term in sec19 tion 1112 of title 18, United States Code. 

20 (8) MISSING.—The term ‘‘missing’’ has the 

21 meaning determined by the applicable Federal law 

22 enforcement agency. 

23 (9) MISSING PERSONS CASE OF INTEREST TO

24 INDIAN TRIBES.—The term ‘‘missing persons case of 

25 interest to Indian tribes’’ means a case involving— 


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1 (A) a missing Indian; or 

2 (B) a missing person whose last known lo3 cation is believed to be on, in, or near Indian 

4 land. 

5 (10) MURDER.—The term ‘‘murder’’ has the 

6 meaning given the term in section 1111 of title 18, 

7 United States Code. 

8 (11) MURDER CASE OF INTEREST TO INDIAN

9 TRIBES.—The term ‘‘murder case of interest to In10 dian tribes’’ means a case involving— 

11 (A) a murdered Indian; or 

12 (B) a person murdered on, in, or near In13 dian land. 

14 (12) MURDERED.—The term ‘‘murdered’’, with 

15 respect to a person, means the person was the victim 

16 of— 

17 (A) murder; or 

18 (B) manslaughter. 

19 (13) NATIONAL CRIME INFORMATION DATA20 BASES.—The term ‘‘national crime information 

21 databases’’ has the meaning given the term in sec22 tion 534(f)(3) of title 28, United States Code. 

23 (14) RELEVANT TRIBAL STAKEHOLDER.—The 

24 term ‘‘relevant Tribal stakeholder’’ means, as appli25 cable— 


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1 (A) an Indian tribe; 

2 (B) a tribal organization; and 

3 (C) a national or regional organization 

4 that— 

5 (i) represents a substantial Indian 

6 constituency; and 

7 (ii) has expertise in the fields of— 

8 (I) human trafficking; 

9 (II) violence against women and 

10 children; or 

11 (III) Tribal justice systems. 

12 (15) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

13 means the Secretary of the Interior. 

14 (16) TRIBAL JUSTICE OFFICIAL.—The term 

15 ‘‘tribal justice official’’ has the meaning given the 

16 term in section 2 of the Indian Law Enforcement 

17 Reform Act (25 U.S.C. 2801). 

18 (17) TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘tribal 

19 organization’’ has the meaning given the term in 

20 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu21 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

22 (18) UNIDENTIFIED REMAINS CASE OF INTER23 EST TO INDIAN TRIBES.—The term ‘‘unidentified re24 mains case of interest to Indian tribes’’ means a 

25 case involving— 


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1 (A) unidentified Indian remains; or 

2 (B) unidentified remains found on, in, or 

3 near Indian land. 

4 TITLE I—BRIDGING AGENCY 

5 DATA GAPS 

6 SEC. 101. FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT DATABASE RE7 PORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 151(a) of the Sex Of9 fender Registration and Notification Act (34 U.S.C. 

10 20961(a)) is amended— 

11 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

12 the semicolon; 

13 (2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para14 graph (3); and 

15 (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(2) the National Missing and Unidentified 

18 Persons System, to be used by a person accessing 

19 the System only within the scope of the work of the 

20 person in assisting or supporting law enforcement 

21 efforts to solve missing, unidentified, and unclaimed 

22 person cases across the United States; and’’. 

23 (b) SHARING OF INFORMATION.—Not later than 2 

24 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney 

25 General shall, in a manner that maintains the integrity 


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1 of confidential, private, and law enforcement sensitive in2 formation, provide for information on missing persons and 

3 unidentified remains contained in national crime informa4 tion databases to be transmitted to, entered in, and other5 wise shared with the National Missing and Unidentified 

6 Persons System. 

7 (c) TEMPORARY REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Until 

8 such time as the data sharing procedures required under 

9 subsection (b) are in effect, each Federal law enforcement 

10 agency shall enter into the National Missing and Unidenti11 fied Persons System each missing persons case of interest 

12 to Indian tribes and each unidentified remains case of in13 terest to Indian tribes reported to or investigated by the 

14 Federal law enforcement agency. 

15 (d) COORDINATION WITH NAMUS TRIBAL LIAI16 SON.—The Director and the Director of the Federal Bu17 reau of Investigation shall each appoint a liaison to coordi18 nate with the 1 or more Tribal liaisons appointed under 

19 section (4)(a) to ensure that— 

20 (1) all missing persons cases of interest to In21 dian tribes and all unidentified remains cases of in22 terest to Indian tribes are fully captured in the Na23 tional Missing and Unidentified Persons System; 

24 and 


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1 (2) Indian tribes are aware of, and able to ac2 cess, information in the National Missing and Un3 identified Persons System. 

4 SEC. 102. NATIONAL MISSING AND UNIDENTIFIED PERSONS 

5 SYSTEM TRIBAL LIAISON. 

6 (a) APPOINTMENT.—The Attorney General, acting 

7 through the Director of the National Institute of Justice, 

8 shall appoint 1 or more Tribal liaisons for the National 

9 Missing and Unidentified Persons System. 

10 (b) DUTIES.—The duties of a Tribal liaison ap11 pointed under subsection (a) shall include— 

12 (1) coordinating the reporting of information 

13 relating to missing persons cases of interest to In14 dian tribes and unidentified remains cases of inter15 est to Indian tribes; 

16 (2) consulting and coordinating with relevant 

17 Tribal stakeholders to address the reporting, docu18 mentation, and tracking of missing persons cases of 

19 interest to Indian tribes and unidentified remains 

20 cases of interest to Indian tribes; 

21 (3) developing working relationships, and main22 taining communication, with relevant Tribal stake23 holders; 

24 (4) providing technical assistance and training 

25 to relevant Tribal stakeholders, victim service advoVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:35 Jun 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1853.IS S1853

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1 cates, medical examiners, and tribal justice officials 

2 regarding— 

3 (A) the gathering and reporting of infor4 mation to the National Missing and Unidenti5 fied Persons System; and 

6 (B) working with non-Tribal law enforce7 ment agencies to ensure all missing persons 

8 cases of interest to Indian tribes and unidenti9 fied remains cases of interest to Indian tribes 

10 are reported to the National Missing and Un11 identified Persons System; 

12 (5) coordinating with the Office of Tribal Jus13 tice and the Office of Justice Services, as necessary; 

14 and 

15 (6) conducting other training, information gath16 ering, and outreach activities to improve resolution 

17 of missing persons cases of interest to Indian tribes 

18 and unidentified remains cases of interest to Indian 

19 tribes. 

20 (c) REPORTING AND TRANSPARENCY.— 

21 (1) ANNUAL REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—During 

22 the 3-year-period beginning on the date of enact23 ment of this Act, the Attorney General, acting 

24 through the Director of the National Institute of 

25 Justice, shall submit to the Committees on Indian 


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1 Affairs and the Judiciary of the Senate and the 

2 Committees on Natural Resources and the Judiciary 

3 of the House of Representatives an annual report— 

4 (A) describing the activities and accom5 plishments of the 1 or more Tribal liaisons ap6 pointed under subsection (a) during the 1-year 

7 period preceding the date of the report; and 

8 (B) summarizing— 

9 (i) the number of missing persons 

10 cases of interest to Indian tribes and un11 identified remains cases of interest to In12 dian tribes listed in the National Missing 

13 and Unidentified Persons System; 

14 (ii) the percentage of missing persons 

15 cases of interest to Indian tribes and un16 identified remains cases of interest to In17 dian tribes closed during the 1-year period 

18 preceding the date of the report; and 

19 (iii) the reasons for those closures. 

20 (2) PUBLIC TRANSPARENCY.—Annually, the At21 torney General, acting through the Director of the 

22 National Institute of Justice, shall publish on a 

23 website publicly accessible information— 

24 (A) describing the activities and accom25 plishments of the 1 or more Tribal liaisons apVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:35 Jun 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1853.IS S1853

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1 pointed under subsection (a) during the 1-year 

2 period preceding the date of the publication; 

3 and 

4 (B) summarizing— 

5 (i) the number of missing persons 

6 cases of interest to Indian tribes and un7 identified remains cases of interest to In8 dian tribes listed in the National Missing 

9 and Unidentified Persons System; 

10 (ii) the percentage of missing persons 

11 cases of interest to Indian tribes and un12 identified remains cases of interest to In13 dian tribes closed during the 1-year period 

14 preceding the date of the report; and 

15 (iii) the reasons for those closures. 

16 SEC. 103. LAW ENFORCEMENT DATA SHARING WITH INDIAN 

17 TRIBES. 

18 (a) ACCESS TO NATIONAL CRIME INFORMATION

19 DATABASES BY TRIBES.—Section 233(b) of the Tribal 

20 Law and Order Act of 2010 (34 U.S.C. 41107) is amend21 ed— 

22 (1) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the 

23 following: 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall 

25 ensure that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) tribal law enforcement officials that 

2 meet applicable Federal or State requirements 

3 shall be permitted access to national crime in4 formation databases; 

5 ‘‘(B) technical assistance and training is 

6 provided to Bureau of Indian Affairs and tribal 

7 law enforcement agencies to gain access to, and 

8 the ability to use and input information into, 

9 the National Crime Information Center and 

10 other national crime information databases pur11 suant to section 534 of title 28, United States 

12 Code; and 

13 ‘‘(C) the Federal Bureau of Investigation 

14 coordinates with the Office of Justice Services 

15 to ensure tribal law enforcement agencies are 

16 assigned appropriate credentials or ORI num17 bers for uniform crime reporting purposes.’’; 

18 and 

19 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘with criminal 

20 jurisdiction over Indian country’’. 

21 (b) ACQUISITION, PRESERVATION, AND EXCHANGE

22 OF IDENTIFICATION RECORDS AND INFORMATION.—Sec23 tion 534(d) of title 28, United States Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 

2 subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, and indent3 ing appropriately; 

4 (2) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) 

5 (as so redesignated), by striking ‘‘The Attorney Gen6 eral’’ and inserting the following: 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General’’; 

8 and 

9 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(2) TRIBAL ACCESS PROGRAM.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General 

12 shall establish a program, to be known as the 

13 ‘Tribal Access Program’, to enhance the ability 

14 of tribal governments to access and enter infor15 mation into Federal criminal information data16 bases under this section. 

17 ‘‘(B) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA18 TIONS.— 

19 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—There is author20 ized to be appropriated to carry out the 

21 Tribal Access Program under subpara22 graph (A) $3,000,000 for each of fiscal 

23 years 2020 through 2024, to remain avail24 able until expended. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) ADDITIONAL FUNDING.—The At2 torney General may use to carry out the 

3 Tribal Access Program under subpara4 graph (A) any balances remaining for the 

5 account under the heading ‘VIOLENCE

6 AGAINST WOMEN PREVENTION AND PROS7 ECUTION PROGRAMS’ under the heading 

8 ‘STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT

9 ACTIVITIES OFFICE ON VIOLENCE

10 AGAINST WOMEN’ of the Department of 

11 Justice from appropriations for full fiscal 

12 years prior to the date of enactment of the 

13 Bridging Agency Data Gaps and Ensuring 

14 Safety for Native Communities Act. 

15 ‘‘(3) INFORMATION SHARING.—To the extent 

16 otherwise permitted by law, any report issued as a 

17 result of the analysis of information entered into 

18 Federal criminal information databases or obtained 

19 from Federal criminal databases, including for the 

20 purpose of conducting background checks, shall be 

21 shared with each Indian tribe of jurisdiction.’’. 


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1 SEC. 104. REPORT ON INDIAN COUNTRY LAW ENFORCE2 MENT PERSONNEL RESOURCES AND NEED. 

3 (a) DEFINITION OF DOJ LAW ENFORCEMENT AGEN4 CY.—In this section, the term ‘‘DOJ law enforcement 

5 agency’’ means each of— 

6 (1) the Federal Bureau of Investigation; 

7 (2) the Drug Enforcement Administration; 

8 (3) the United States Marshals Service; 

9 (4) the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms 

10 and Explosives; and 

11 (5) the Offices of the United States Attorneys. 

12 (b) REPORT.—Each fiscal year, the Attorney General 

13 shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress 

14 a report describing for that fiscal year— 

15 (1) the number of full-time employees of each 

16 DOJ law enforcement agency that are assigned to 

17 work on criminal investigations and prosecutions in 

18 Indian country; 

19 (2) an estimate of the average caseload of— 

20 (A) the full-time employees described in 

21 paragraph (1); compared to 

22 (B) the other full-time employees at the re23 spective DOJ law enforcement agency that are 

24 assigned to work on criminal investigations and 

25 prosecutions; and 


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1 (3) an explanation for any differences in the av2 erage caseloads identified under subparagraphs (A) 

3 and (B) of paragraph (2). 

4 TITLE II—ENSURING SAFETY 

5 FOR NATIVE COMMUNITIES 

6 SEC. 201. DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM ON BUREAU OF IN7 DIAN AFFAIRS LAW ENFORCEMENT EMPLOY8 MENT BACKGROUND CHECKS. 

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 

11 a demonstration program for the purpose of con12 ducting or adjudicating, in coordination with the Di13 rector of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, personnel 

14 background investigations for applicants for law en15 forcement positions in the Bureau of Indian Affairs. 

16 (2) BACKGROUND INVESTIGATIONS AND SECU17 RITY CLEARANCE DETERMINATIONS.— 

18 (A) BIA INVESTIGATIONS.—As part of the 

19 demonstration program established under para20 graph (1), the Secretary may carry out a back21 ground investigation, security clearance deter22 mination, or both a background investigation 

23 and a security clearance determination for an 

24 applicant for a law enforcement position in the 

25 Bureau of Indian Affairs. 


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1 (B) USE OF PREVIOUS INVESTIGATIONS

2 AND DETERMINATIONS.— 

3 (i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 

4 (ii), as part of the demonstration program 

5 established under paragraph (1), the Sec6 retary, in adjudicating background inves7 tigations for applicants for law enforce8 ment positions in the Bureau of Indian Af9 fairs, shall consider previous background 

10 investigations for an applicant, security 

11 clearance determinations for an applicant, 

12 or both background investigations and se13 curity clearance determinations for an ap14 plicant, as the case may be, that have been 

15 conducted by a State or local government, 

16 Indian tribe, tribal organization, or the 

17 Bureau of Indian Affairs, within the 5-year 

18 period preceding the application for em19 ployment with the Bureau of Indian Af20 fairs. 

21 (ii) QUALITY.—The Secretary shall 

22 only consider previous background inves23 tigations and security clearance determina24 tions for an applicant that have been con25 ducted by a State or local government, InVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:35 Jun 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1853.IS S1853

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1 dian tribe, or tribal organization if the Sec2 retary can verify that those previous inves3 tigations and determinations, as the case 

4 may be, are of a comparable quality and 

5 thoroughness to investigations and deter6 minations carried out by the Bureau of In7 dian Affairs, the Office of Personnel Man8 agement, or another Federal agency. 

9 (iii) ADDITIONAL INVESTIGATION.—If, 

10 as described in clause (i), the Secretary 

11 considers an existing background investiga12 tion, security clearance determination, or 

13 both, as the case may be, for an applicant 

14 that has been carried out by a State or 

15 local government, Indian tribe, tribal orga16 nization, or the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 

17 the Secretary— 

18 (I) may carry out additional in19 vestigation and examination of the ap20 plicant if the Secretary determines 

21 that such additional information is 

22 needed in order to make an appro23 priate determination as to the char24 acter and trustworthiness of the appli25 cant before final adjudication can be 


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1 made and a security clearance can be 

2 issued; and 

3 (II) shall not initiate a new back4 ground investigation process with the 

5 National Background Investigations 

6 Bureau or other Federal agency un7 less that new background investiga8 tion process covers a period of time 

9 that was not covered by a previous 

10 background investigation process. 

11 (iv) AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary 

12 may enter into a Memorandum of Agree13 ment with a State or local government, In14 dian tribe, or tribal organization to develop 

15 steps to expedite the process of receiving 

16 and obtaining access to background inves17 tigation and security clearance determina18 tions for use in the demonstration pro19 gram. 

20 (3) SUNSET.—The demonstration program es21 tablished under this section shall terminate 5 years 

22 after the date of the commencement of the program. 

23 (b) SUFFICIENCY.—Notwithstanding any other provi24 sion of law, a background investigation conducted or adju25 dicated by the Secretary pursuant to the demonstration 


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1 program authorized in subsection (a) that results in the 

2 granting of a security clearance to an applicant for a law 

3 enforcement position in the Bureau of Indian Affairs shall 

4 be sufficient to meet the applicable requirements of the 

5 Office of Personnel Management or other Federal agency 

6 for such investigations. 

7 (c) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit 

8 an annual report to the Committee on Indian Affairs of 

9 the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of 

10 the House of Representatives on the demonstration pro11 gram established under subsection (a), which shall include 

12 a description of— 

13 (1) the demonstration program and any rel14 evant annual changes or updates to the program; 

15 (2) the number of background investigations 

16 carried out under the program; 

17 (3) the costs, including any cost savings, associ18 ated with the investigation and adjudication process 

19 under the program; 

20 (4) the processing times for the investigation 

21 and adjudication processes under the program; 

22 (5) any Memoranda of Agreement entered into 

23 with State or local government, Indian tribe, or trib24 al organization; and 


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1 (6) any other information that the Secretary 

2 determines to be relevant. 

3 (d) GAO STUDY AND REPORT.— 

4 (1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 18 

5 months after the date on which the demonstration 

6 program commences under this section, the Comp7 troller General of the United States shall prepare 

8 and submit to Congress an initial report on such 

9 demonstration program. 

10 (2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 18 months 

11 after the date on which the demonstration program 

12 terminates under subsection (a)(3), the Comptroller 

13 General of the United States shall prepare and sub14 mit to Congress a final report on such demonstra15 tion program. 

16 (3) TRIBAL INPUT.—In preparing the reports 

17 under this subsection, the Comptroller General of 

18 the United States shall obtain input from Indian 

19 tribes regarding the demonstration program under 

20 this section. 

21 SEC. 202. MISSING AND MURDERED RESPONSE COORDINA22 TION GRANT PROGRAM. 

23 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Attorney 

24 General shall establish within the Office of Justice Pro25 grams a grant program under which the Attorney General 


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1 shall make grants to eligible entities described in sub2 section (b) to carry out eligible activities described in sub3 section (c). 

4 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 

6 grant under the grant program established under 

7 subsection (a) an entity shall be— 

8 (A) a relevant Tribal stakeholder; 

9 (B) subject to paragraph (2), a State, in 

10 consortium with a relevant Tribal stakeholder; 

11 (C) a consortium of 2 or more relevant 

12 Tribal stakeholders; or 

13 (D) subject to paragraph (2), a consortium 

14 of 2 or more States and 1 or more relevant 

15 Tribal stakeholders. 

16 (2) STATE ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible under 

17 subparagraph (B) or (D) of paragraph (1), a State 

18 shall demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Attorney 

19 General that the State— 

20 (A) reports missing persons cases in the 

21 State to the national crime information data22 bases; or 

23 (B) if not, has a plan to do so using a 

24 grant received under the grant program estab25 lished under subsection (a). 


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1 (c) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—An eligible entity receiv2 ing a grant under the grant program established under 

3 subsection (a) may use the grant— 

4 (1) to establish a statewide or regional center to 

5 document and track missing persons cases of inter6 est to Indian tribes and murder cases of interest to 

7 Indian tribes; 

8 (2) to establish a State or regional commission 

9 to respond to, and to improve coordination between 

10 Federal law enforcement agencies, and Tribal, State, 

11 and local law enforcement agencies of the investiga12 tion of, missing persons cases of interest to Indian 

13 tribes and murder cases of interest to Indian tribes; 

14 and 

15 (3) to document, develop, and disseminate re16 sources for use by Federal law enforcement agencies 

17 and Tribal, State, and local law enforcement agen18 cies for the coordination of the investigation of miss19 ing persons cases of interest to Indian tribes and 

20 murder cases of interest to Indian tribes. 

21 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

22 authorized to be appropriated to carry out the program 

23 $1,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024. 


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1 SEC. 203. GAO STUDY ON FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT 

2 AGENCY EVIDENCE COLLECTION, HANDLING, 

3 AND PROCESSING. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of the 

5 United States shall conduct a study— 

6 (1) on the evidence collection, handling, and 

7 processing procedures and practices of the Office of 

8 Justice Services and the Federal Bureau of Inves9 tigation in exercising jurisdiction over crimes involv10 ing Indians or committed in Indian country; 

11 (2) on any barriers to evidence collection, han12 dling, and processing by the agencies referred to in 

13 paragraph (1); 

14 (3) on the views of law enforcement officials at 

15 the agencies referred to in paragraph (1) and their 

16 counterparts within the Offices of the United States 

17 Attorneys concerning any relationship between— 

18 (A) the barriers identified under paragraph 

19 (2); and 

20 (B) United States Attorneys declination 

21 rates due to insufficient evidence; and 

22 (4) that includes a survey of barriers to evi23 dence collection, handling, and processing faced by 

24 State and local law enforcement agencies that exer25 cise jurisdiction over Indian country under the Act 


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1 of August 15, 1953 (67 Stat. 588, chapter 505), 

2 and the amendments made by that Act. 

3 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 

4 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

5 of the United States shall submit to Congress a report 

6 describing the results of the study conducted under sub7 section (a). 

8 SEC. 204. BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS AND TRIBAL LAW 

9 ENFORCEMENT OFFICER COUNSELING RE10 SOURCES INTERDEPARTMENTAL COORDINA11 TION. 

12 The Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting 

13 through the Director of the Indian Health Service and the 

14 Administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health 

15 Services Administration, and the Attorney General shall 

16 coordinate with the Director to ensure that Federal train17 ing materials and resources for establishing and maintain18 ing mental health wellness programs are available to Trib19 al and Bureau of Indian Affairs law enforcement officers 

20 experiencing occupational stress. 

Æ 


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