S. 227 

One Hundred Sixteenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Friday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and twenty 

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. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

The purposes of this Act are— 

(1) to clarify the responsibilities of Federal, State, Tribal, 

and local law enforcement agencies with respect to responding 

to cases of missing or murdered Indians; 

(2) to increase coordination and communication among Federal, State, Tribal, and local law enforcement agencies, 

including medical examiner and coroner offices; 

(3) to empower Tribal governments with the resources and 

information necessary to effectively respond to cases of missing 

or murdered Indians; and 

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

or murdered Indian men, women, and children, regardless of 

where they reside, and the sharing of information among Federal, State, and Tribal officials responsible for responding to 

and investigating cases of missing or murdered Indians. 

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

In this Act: 

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

the term in section 514 of the Indian Health Care Improvement 

Act (25 U.S.C. 1660d). 

(2) DATABASES.—The term ‘‘databases’’ means— 

(A) the National Crime Information Center database; 

(B) the Combined DNA Index System; 

(C) the Next Generation Identification System; and 

(D) any other database relevant to responding to cases 

of missing or murdered Indians, including that under the 

Violent Criminal Apprehension Program and the National 

Missing and Unidentified Persons System. 

(3) INDIAN.—The term ‘‘Indian’’ means a member of an 

Indian Tribe. 

(4) INDIAN COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘Indian country’’ has the 

meaning given the term in section 1151 of title 18, United 

States Code. 
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(5) INDIAN LAND.—The term ‘‘Indian land’’ means Indian 

lands, as defined in section 3 of the Native American Business 

Development, Trade Promotion, and Tourism Act of 2000 (25 

U.S.C. 4302). 

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

meaning given the term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ in section 4 of the 

Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 

U.S.C. 5304). 

(7) LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.—The term ‘‘law enforcement agency’’ means a Tribal, Federal, State, or local law 

enforcement agency. 

SEC. 4. IMPROVING TRIBAL ACCESS TO DATABASES. 

(a) TRIBAL ENROLLMENT INFORMATION.—The Attorney General 

shall provide training to law enforcement agencies regarding how 

to record the Tribal enrollment information or affiliation, as appropriate, of a victim in Federal databases. 

(b) CONSULTATION.— 

(1) CONSULTATION.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, in cooperation 

with the Secretary of the Interior, shall complete a formal 

consultation with Indian Tribes on how to further improve 

Tribal data relevance and access to databases. 

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

date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, in coordination with the Secretary of the Interior, shall confer with Tribal 

organizations and urban Indian organizations on how to further 

improve American Indian and Alaska Native data relevance 

and access to databases. 

(3) ANNUAL CONSULTATION.—Section 903(b) of the Violence 

Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization 

Act of 2005 (34 U.S.C. 20126) is amended— 

(A) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the following: 

‘‘(2) enhancing the safety of Indian women from domestic 

violence, dating violence, sexual assault, homicide, stalking, 

and sex trafficking;’’; 

(B) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at the 

end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

(C) by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘(4) improving access to local, regional, State, and Federal 

crime information databases and criminal justice information 

systems.’’. 

(c) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 180 days after the date of 

enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall— 

(1) develop and implement a dissemination strategy to 

educate the public of the National Missing and Unidentified 

Persons System; and 

(2) conduct specific outreach to Indian Tribes, Tribal 

organizations, and urban Indian organizations regarding the 

ability to publicly enter information, through the National 

Missing and Unidentified Persons System or other non-law 

enforcement sensitive portal, regarding missing persons, which 

may include family members and other known acquaintances. 
S. 227—3 

SEC. 5. GUIDELINES FOR RESPONDING TO CASES OF MISSING OR MURDERED INDIANS. 

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

which the consultation described in section 4(b)(1) is completed, 

the Attorney General shall direct United States attorneys to develop 

regionally appropriate guidelines to respond to cases of missing 

or murdered Indians that shall include— 

(1) guidelines on inter-jurisdictional cooperation among law 

enforcement agencies at the Tribal, Federal, State, and local 

levels, including inter-jurisdictional enforcement of protection 

orders and detailing specific responsibilities of each law enforcement agency; 

(2) best practices in conducting searches for missing persons on and off Indian land; 

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

of data and information on missing persons and unidentified 

human remains, and information on culturally appropriate 

identification and handling of human remains identified as 

Indian, including guidance stating that all appropriate information related to missing or murdered Indians be entered in 

a timely manner into applicable databases; 

(4) guidance on which law enforcement agency is responsible for inputting information into appropriate databases under 

paragraph (3) if the Tribal law enforcement agency does not 

have access to those appropriate databases; 

(5) guidelines on improving law enforcement agency 

response rates and follow-up responses to cases of missing 

or murdered Indians; and 

(6) guidelines on ensuring access to culturally appropriate 

victim services for victims and their families. 

(b) CONSULTATION.—United States attorneys shall develop the 

guidelines required under subsection (a) in consultation with Indian 

Tribes and other relevant partners, including— 

(1) the Department of Justice; 

(2) the Federal Bureau of Investigation; 

(3) the Department of the Interior; 

(4) the Bureau of Indian Affairs; 

(5) Tribal, State, and local law enforcement agencies; 

(6) medical examiners; 

(7) coroners; 

(8) Tribal, State, and local organizations that provide victim 

services; and 

(9) national, regional, or urban Indian organizations with 

relevant expertise. 

(c) COMPLIANCE.— (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

of enactment of this Act, the United States attorneys shall 

implement, by incorporating into office policies and procedures, 

the guidelines developed under subsection (a). 

(2) MODIFICATION.—Each Federal law enforcement agency 

shall modify the guidelines, policies, and protocols of the agency 

to incorporate the guidelines developed under subsection (a). 

(3) DETERMINATION.—Not later than the end of each fiscal 

year beginning after the date the guidelines are established 

under this section and incorporated under this subsection, upon 

the request of a Tribal, State, or local law enforcement agency, 

the Attorney General shall determine whether the Tribal, State, 
S. 227—4 

or local law enforcement agency seeking recognition of compliance has incorporated guidelines into their respective guidelines, policies, and protocols. 

(d) ACCOUNTABILITY.—Not later than 30 days after compliance 

determinations are made each fiscal year in accordance with subsection (c)(3), the Attorney General shall— 

(1) disclose and publish, including on the website of the 

Department of Justice, the name of each Tribal, State, or local 

law enforcement agency that the Attorney General has determined has incorporated guidelines in accordance with subsection (c)(3); 

(2) disclose and publish, including on the website of the 

Department of Justice, the name of each Tribal, State, or local 

law enforcement agency that has requested a determination 

in accordance with subsection (c)(3) that is pending; 

(3) collect the guidelines into a resource of examples and 

best practices that can be used by other law enforcement agencies seeking to create and implement such guidelines. 

(e) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Attorney General shall use the National Indian Country Training Initiative to 

provide training and technical assistance to Indian Tribes and 

law enforcement agencies on— 

(1) implementing the guidelines developed under subsection 

(a) or developing and implementing locally specific guidelines 

or protocols for responding to cases of missing or murdered 

Indians; and 

(2) using the National Missing and Unidentified Persons 

System and accessing program services that will assist Indian 

Tribes with responding to cases of missing or murdered Indians. 

(f) GUIDELINES FROM INDIAN TRIBES.— 

(1) IN GENERAL.—Indian Tribes may submit their own 

guidelines to respond to cases of missing or murdered Indians 

to the Attorney General. 

(2) PUBLICATION.—Upon receipt of any guidelines from an 

Indian Tribe, the Attorney General shall publish the guidelines 

on the website of the Department of Justice in 1 centralized 

location to make the guidelines available as a resource to 

any Federal agency, State, or Tribal government. 

SEC. 6. ANNUAL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

(a) ANNUAL REPORTING.—Beginning in the first fiscal year after 

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

include in its annual Indian Country Investigations and Prosecutions report to Congress information that— 

(1) includes known statistics on missing Indians in the 

United States, available to the Department of Justice, 

including— 

(A) age; 

(B) gender; 

(C) Tribal enrollment information or affiliation, if available; 

(D) the current number of open cases per State; 

(E) the total number of closed cases per State each 

calendar year, from the most recent 10 calendar years; 

and 

(F) other relevant information the Attorney General 

determines is appropriate; 
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(2) includes known statistics on murdered Indians in the 

United States, available to the Department of Justice, 

including— 

(A) age; 

(B) gender; 

(C) Tribal enrollment information or affiliation, if available; 

(D) the current number of open cases per State; 

(E) the total number of closed cases per State each 

calendar year, from the most recent 10 calendar years; 

and 

(F) other relevant information the Attorney General 

determines is appropriate; 

(3) maintains victim privacy to the greatest extent possible 

by excluding information that can be used on its own or with 

other information to identify, contact, or locate a single person, 

or to identify an individual in context; and 

(4) includes— 

(A) an explanation of why the statistics described in 

paragraph (1) may not be comprehensive; and 

(B) recommendations on how data collection on missing 

or murdered Indians may be improved. 

(b) COMPLIANCE.— 

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

the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

for the purpose of compiling accurate data for the annual report 

required under subsection (a), the Attorney General shall 

request all Tribal, State, and local law enforcement agencies 

to submit to the Department of Justice, to the fullest extent 

possible, all relevant information pertaining to missing or murdered Indians collected by the Tribal, State, and local law 

enforcement agency, and in a format provided by the Department of Justice that ensures the streamlining of data reporting. 

(2) DISCLOSURE.—The Attorney General shall disclose and 

publish annually, including on the website of the Department 

of Justice, the name of each Tribal, State, or local law enforcement agency that the Attorney General has determined has 

submitted the information requested under paragraph (1) for 

the fiscal year in which the report was published. 

(c) INCLUSION OF GENDER IN MISSING AND UNIDENTIFIED PERSONS STATISTICS.—Beginning in the first calendar year after the 

date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Federal 

Bureau of Investigation shall include gender in its annual statistics 

on missing and unidentified persons published on its public website. 

SEC. 7. IMPLEMENTATION AND INCENTIVE. 

(a) GRANT AUTHORITY.—Section 2101(b) of the Omnibus Crime 

Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10461(b)) is 

amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘(23) To develop, strengthen, and implement policies, protocols, and training for law enforcement regarding cases of 

missing or murdered Indians, as described in section 5 of 

Savanna’s Act. 

‘‘(24) To compile and annually report data to the Attorney 

General related to missing or murdered Indians, as described 

in section 6 of Savanna’s Act.’’. 
S. 227—6 

(b) GRANTS TO INDIAN TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS.—Section 2015 

of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 

U.S.C. 10452(a)) is amended— 

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

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

and inserting a semicolon; and 

(3) by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘(11) develop, strengthen, and implement policies, protocols, 

and training for law enforcement regarding cases of missing 

or murdered Indians, as described in section 5 of Savanna’s 

Act; and 

‘‘(12) compile and annually report data to the Attorney 

General related to missing or murdered Indians, as described 

in section 6 of Savanna’s Act.’’. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.