116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 227 

AN ACT 

To direct the Attorney General to review, revise, and develop 

law enforcement and justice protocols appropriate to address missing and 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, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as ‘‘Savanna’s Act’’. 

3 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

4 The purposes of this Act are— 

5 (1) to clarify the responsibilities of Federal, 

6 State, Tribal, and local law enforcement agencies 

7 with respect to responding to cases of missing or 

8 murdered Indians; 

9 (2) to increase coordination and communication 

10 among Federal, State, Tribal, and local law enforce11 ment agencies, including medical examiner and cor12 oner offices; 

13 (3) to empower Tribal governments with the re14 sources and information necessary to effectively re15 spond to cases of missing or murdered Indians; and 

16 (4) to increase the collection of data related to 

17 missing or murdered Indian men, women, and chil18 dren, regardless of where they reside, and the shar19 ing of information among Federal, State, and Tribal 

20 officials responsible for responding to and inves21 tigating cases of missing or murdered Indians. 

22 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

23 In this Act: 

24 (1) CONFER.—The term ‘‘confer’’ has the 

25 meaning given the term in section 514 of the Indian 

26 Health Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1660d). 
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1 (2) DATABASES.—The term ‘‘databases’’ 

2 means— 

3 (A) the National Crime Information Center 

4 database; 

5 (B) the Combined DNA Index System; 

6 (C) the Next Generation Identification 

7 System; and 

8 (D) any other database relevant to re9 sponding to cases of missing or murdered Indi10 ans, including that under the Violent Criminal 

11 Apprehension Program and the National Miss12 ing and Unidentified Persons System. 

13 (3) INDIAN.—The term ‘‘Indian’’ means a 

14 member of an Indian Tribe. 

15 (4) INDIAN COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘Indian coun16 try’’ has the meaning given the term in section 1151 

17 of title 18, United States Code. 

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

19 means Indian lands, as defined in section 3 of the 

20 Native American Business Development, Trade Pro21 motion, and Tourism Act of 2000 (25 U.S.C. 4302). 

22 (6) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

23 has the meaning given the term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ in 

24 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu25 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 
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1 (7) LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.—The term 

2 ‘‘law enforcement agency’’ means a Tribal, Federal, 

3 State, or local law enforcement agency. 

4 SEC. 4. IMPROVING TRIBAL ACCESS TO DATABASES. 

5 (a) TRIBAL ENROLLMENT INFORMATION.—The At6 torney General shall provide training to law enforcement 

7 agencies regarding how to record the Tribal enrollment in8 formation or affiliation, as appropriate, of a victim in Fed9 eral databases. 

10 (b) CONSULTATION.— 

11 (1) CONSULTATION.—Not later than 180 days 

12 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney 

13 General, in cooperation with the Secretary of the In14 terior, shall complete a formal consultation with In15 dian Tribes on how to further improve Tribal data 

16 relevance and access to databases. 

17 (2) INITIAL CONFER.—Not later than 180 days 

18 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney 

19 General, in coordination with the Secretary of the 

20 Interior, shall confer with Tribal organizations and 

21 urban Indian organizations on how to further im22 prove American Indian and Alaska Native data rel23 evance and access to databases. 

24 (3) ANNUAL CONSULTATION.—Section 903(b) 

25 of the Violence Against Women and Department of 
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1 Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005 (34 U.S.C. 

2 20126) is amended— 

3 (A) by striking paragraph (2) and insert4 ing the following: 

5 ‘‘(2) enhancing the safety of Indian women 

6 from domestic violence, dating violence, sexual as7 sault, homicide, stalking, and sex trafficking;’’; 

8 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking the pe9 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

10 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(4) improving access to local, regional, State, 

12 and Federal crime information databases and crimi13 nal justice information systems.’’. 

14 (c) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 180 days after 

15 the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General 

16 shall— 

17 (1) develop and implement a dissemination 

18 strategy to educate the public of the National Miss19 ing and Unidentified Persons System; and 

20 (2) conduct specific outreach to Indian Tribes, 

21 Tribal organizations, and urban Indian organiza22 tions regarding the ability to publicly enter informa23 tion, through the National Missing and Unidentified 

24 Persons System or other non-law enforcement sen25 sitive portal, regarding missing persons, which may 
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1 include family members and other known acquaint2 ances. 

3 SEC. 5. GUIDELINES FOR RESPONDING TO CASES OF MISS4 ING OR MURDERED INDIANS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after the 

6 date on which the consultation described in section 4(b)(1) 

7 is completed, the Attorney General shall direct United 

8 States attorneys to develop regionally appropriate guide9 lines to respond to cases of missing or murdered Indians 

10 that shall include— 

11 (1) guidelines on inter-jurisdictional cooperation 

12 among law enforcement agencies at the Tribal, Fed13 eral, State, and local levels, including inter-jurisdic14 tional enforcement of protection orders and detailing 

15 specific responsibilities of each law enforcement 

16 agency; 

17 (2) best practices in conducting searches for 

18 missing persons on and off Indian land; 

19 (3) standards on the collection, reporting, and 

20 analysis of data and information on missing persons 

21 and unidentified human remains, and information on 

22 culturally appropriate identification and handling of 

23 human remains identified as Indian, including guid24 ance stating that all appropriate information related 
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1 to missing or murdered Indians be entered in a 

2 timely manner into applicable databases; 

3 (4) guidance on which law enforcement agency 

4 is responsible for inputting information into appro5 priate databases under paragraph (3) if the Tribal 

6 law enforcement agency does not have access to 

7 those appropriate databases; 

8 (5) guidelines on improving law enforcement 

9 agency response rates and follow-up responses to 

10 cases of missing or murdered Indians; and 

11 (6) guidelines on ensuring access to culturally 

12 appropriate victim services for victims and their 

13 families. 

14 (b) CONSULTATION.—United States attorneys shall 

15 develop the guidelines required under subsection (a) in 

16 consultation with Indian Tribes and other relevant part17 ners, including— 

18 (1) the Department of Justice; 

19 (2) the Federal Bureau of Investigation; 

20 (3) the Department of the Interior; 

21 (4) the Bureau of Indian Affairs; 

22 (5) Tribal, State, and local law enforcement 

23 agencies; 

24 (6) medical examiners; 

25 (7) coroners; 
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1 (8) Tribal, State, and local organizations that 

2 provide victim services; and 

3 (9) national, regional, or urban Indian organi4 zations with relevant expertise. 

5 (c) COMPLIANCE.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

7 the date of enactment of this Act, the United States 

8 attorneys shall implement, by incorporating into of9 fice policies and procedures, the guidelines developed 

10 under subsection (a). 

11 (2) MODIFICATION.—Each Federal law enforce12 ment agency shall modify the guidelines, policies, 

13 and protocols of the agency to incorporate the guide14 lines developed under subsection (a). 

15 (3) DETERMINATION.—Not later than the end 

16 of each fiscal year beginning after the date the 

17 guidelines are established under this section and in18 corporated under this subsection, upon the request 

19 of a Tribal, State, or local law enforcement agency, 

20 the Attorney General shall determine whether the 

21 Tribal, State, or local law enforcement agency seek22 ing recognition of compliance has incorporated 

23 guidelines into their respective guidelines, policies, 

24 and protocols. 
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1 (d) ACCOUNTABILITY.—Not later than 30 days after 

2 compliance determinations are made each fiscal year in 

3 accordance with subsection (c)(3), the Attorney General 

4 shall— 

5 (1) disclose and publish, including on the 

6 website of the Department of Justice, the name of 

7 each Tribal, State, or local law enforcement agency 

8 that the Attorney General has determined has incor9 porated guidelines in accordance with subsection 

10 (c)(3); 

11 (2) disclose and publish, including on the 

12 website of the Department of Justice, the name of 

13 each Tribal, State, or local law enforcement agency 

14 that has requested a determination in accordance 

15 with subsection (c)(3) that is pending; 

16 (3) collect the guidelines into a resource of ex17 amples and best practices that can be used by other 

18 law enforcement agencies seeking to create and im19 plement such guidelines. 

20 (e) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The 

21 Attorney General shall use the National Indian Country 

22 Training Initiative to provide training and technical as23 sistance to Indian Tribes and law enforcement agencies 

24 on— 
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1 (1) implementing the guidelines developed 

2 under subsection (a) or developing and implementing 

3 locally specific guidelines or protocols for responding 

4 to cases of missing or murdered Indians; and 

5 (2) using the National Missing and Unidenti6 fied Persons System and accessing program services 

7 that will assist Indian Tribes with responding to 

8 cases of missing or murdered Indians. 

9 (f) GUIDELINES FROM INDIAN TRIBES.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Indian Tribes may submit 

11 their own guidelines to respond to cases of missing 

12 or murdered Indians to the Attorney General. 

13 (2) PUBLICATION.—Upon receipt of any guide14 lines from an Indian Tribe, the Attorney General 

15 shall publish the guidelines on the website of the De16 partment of Justice in 1 centralized location to 

17 make the guidelines available as a resource to any 

18 Federal agency, State, or Tribal government. 

19 SEC. 6. ANNUAL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

20 (a) ANNUAL REPORTING.—Beginning in the first fis21 cal year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attor22 ney General shall include in its annual Indian Country In23 vestigations and Prosecutions report to Congress informa24 tion that— 
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1 (1) includes known statistics on missing Indians 

2 in the United States, available to the Department of 

3 Justice, including— 

4 (A) age; 

5 (B) gender; 

6 (C) Tribal enrollment information or affili7 ation, if available; 

8 (D) the current number of open cases per 

9 State; 

10 (E) the total number of closed cases per 

11 State each calendar year, from the most recent 

12 10 calendar years; and 

13 (F) other relevant information the Attor14 ney General determines is appropriate; 

15 (2) includes known statistics on murdered Indi16 ans in the United States, available to the Depart17 ment of Justice, including— 

18 (A) age; 

19 (B) gender; 

20 (C) Tribal enrollment information or affili21 ation, if available; 

22 (D) the current number of open cases per 

23 State; 
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1 (E) the total number of closed cases per 

2 State each calendar year, from the most recent 

3 10 calendar years; and 

4 (F) other relevant information the Attor5 ney General determines is appropriate; 

6 (3) maintains victim privacy to the greatest ex7 tent possible by excluding information that can be 

8 used on its own or with other information to iden9 tify, contact, or locate a single person, or to identify 

10 an individual in context; and 

11 (4) includes— 

12 (A) an explanation of why the statistics de13 scribed in paragraph (1) may not be com14 prehensive; and 

15 (B) recommendations on how data collec16 tion on missing or murdered Indians may be 

17 improved. 

18 (b) COMPLIANCE.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning in the first fiscal 

20 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and an21 nually thereafter, for the purpose of compiling accu22 rate data for the annual report required under sub23 section (a), the Attorney General shall request all 

24 Tribal, State, and local law enforcement agencies to 

25 submit to the Department of Justice, to the fullest 
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1 extent possible, all relevant information pertaining to 

2 missing or murdered Indians collected by the Tribal, 

3 State, and local law enforcement agency, and in a 

4 format provided by the Department of Justice that 

5 ensures the streamlining of data reporting. 

6 (2) DISCLOSURE.—The Attorney General shall 

7 disclose and publish annually, including on the 

8 website of the Department of Justice, the name of 

9 each Tribal, State, or local law enforcement agency 

10 that the Attorney General has determined has sub11 mitted the information requested under paragraph 

12 (1) for the fiscal year in which the report was pub13 lished. 

14 (c) INCLUSION OF GENDER IN MISSING AND UN15 IDENTIFIED PERSONS STATISTICS.—Beginning in the 

16 first calendar year after the date of enactment of this Act, 

17 and annually thereafter, the Federal Bureau of Investiga18 tion shall include gender in its annual statistics on missing 

19 and unidentified persons published on its public website. 

20 SEC. 7. IMPLEMENTATION AND INCENTIVE. 

21 (a) GRANT AUTHORITY.—Section 2101(b) of the Om22 nibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 

23 U.S.C. 10461(b)) is amended by adding at the end the 

24 following: 
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1 ‘‘(23) To develop, strengthen, and implement 

2 policies, protocols, and training for law enforcement 

3 regarding cases of missing or murdered Indians, as 

4 described in section 5 of Savanna’s Act. 

5 ‘‘(24) To compile and annually report data to 

6 the Attorney General related to missing or murdered 

7 Indians, as described in section 6 of Savanna’s 

8 Act.’’. 

9 (b) GRANTS TO INDIAN TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS.— 

10 Section 2015 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

11 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10452(a)) is amended— 

12 (1) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

13 end; 

14 (2) in paragraph (10), by striking the period at 

15 the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

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

17 ‘‘(11) develop, strengthen, and implement poli18 cies, protocols, and training for law enforcement re19 garding cases of missing or murdered Indians, as de20 scribed in section 5 of Savanna’s Act; and 
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1 ‘‘(12) compile and annually report data to the 

2 Attorney General related to missing or murdered In3 dians, as described in section 6 of Savanna’s Act.’’. 

Passed the Senate March 11, 2020. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 
116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 227 

AN ACT 

To direct the Attorney General to review, revise, 

dered Indians, and for other purposes. cols appropriate to address missing and murand develop law enforcement and justice proto-