II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3337 

To protect Native children and promote public safety in Indian country. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 8, 2021 

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

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs 

A BILL 

To protect Native children and promote public safety in 

Indian country. 

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 ‘‘Native Youth and 

5 Tribal Officer Protection Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) American Indians and Alaska Natives are 

9 2.5 times more likely to experience violent crimes 

10 and at least 2 times more likely to experience rape 

11 or sexual assault crimes. 


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1 (2) The vast majority of American Indian and 

2 Alaska Native victims, 96 percent of female and 89 

3 percent of male victims, report being victimized by 

4 a non-Indian. 

5 (3) According to a 2010 Government Account6 ability Office report, United States Attorneys de7 clined to prosecute nearly 52 percent of violent 

8 crimes that occur in Indian country. 

9 (4) More than 4 in 5 American Indian and 

10 Alaska Native women have experienced violence in 

11 their lifetime. 

12 (5) According to the Centers for Disease Con13 trol and Prevention, homicide is the third leading 

14 cause of death among American Indian and Alaska 

15 Native women between 10 and 24 years of age and 

16 the fifth leading cause of death for American Indian 

17 and Alaska Native women between 25 and 34 years 

18 of age. 

19 (6) On some reservations, American Indian 

20 women are murdered at more than 10 times the na21 tional average. 

22 (7) Tribal prosecutors report that the majority 

23 of domestic violence cases involve children either as 

24 witnesses or victims, and the Department of Justice 

25 reports that American Indian and Alaska Native 


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1 children suffer exposure to violence at some of the 

2 highest rates in the United States. 

3 (8) Childhood exposure to violence has imme4 diate and long term effects, including increased rates 

5 of altered neurological development, poor physical 

6 and mental health, poor school performance, sub7 stance abuse, and overrepresentation in the juvenile 

8 justice system. 

9 (9) Violence against children and crimes associ10 ated with dating violence and domestic violence in11 crease the number of instances of trauma in Tribal 

12 communities, which— 

13 (A) affects health outcomes; 

14 (B) reduces educational attainment; 

15 (C) hinders economic growth; and 

16 (D) undermines public safety. 

17 (10) Domestic violence calls are among the 

18 most dangerous calls that law enforcement receives, 

19 and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform 

20 Crime Report shows that police officers, including 

21 Tribal police officers, are assaulted when responding 

22 to disturbance calls more often than under any other 

23 circumstances. 

24 (11) The complicated jurisdictional structure in 

25 Indian country— 


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1 (A) requires a high degree of commitment 

2 and cooperation among Tribal, Federal, and 

3 State law enforcement officials; and 

4 (B) when that cooperation breaks down, 

5 results in a significant negative impact on the 

6 ability to provide public safety to Indian com7 munities. 

8 (12) The Indian Law and Order Commission, 

9 established by Congress to review Federal criminal 

10 justice policies and practices in Indian country, 

11 issued a report in 2013 entitled ‘‘A Roadmap for 

12 Making Native America Safer’’ that recommends the 

13 restoration of the inherent authority of Tribal 

14 courts. 

15 (13) Restoring and enhancing local, Tribal ca16 pacity to address violent crimes provides for greater 

17 local control, safety, accountability, and trans18 parency. 

19 (14) Tribal communities should be able to pro20 tect themselves from dating violence, domestic vio21 lence, child violence, and violence committed against 

22 members of the Tribal justice system. 


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1 SEC. 3. TRIBAL JURISDICTION OVER COVERED CRIMES. 

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

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

4 1968’’) is amended— 

5 (1) in the section heading— 

6 (A) by striking ‘‘OF DOMESTIC VIO7 LENCE’’; and 

8 (B) by inserting ‘‘COVERED’’ before 

9 ‘‘CRIMES’’; 

10 (2) in subsection (a)— 

11 (A) by striking paragraph (1) and insert12 ing the following: 

13 ‘‘(1) DATING VIOLENCE.—The term ‘dating vio14 lence’ means any violation of the criminal law of the 

15 Indian tribe that has jurisdiction over the Indian 

16 country where the violation occurs that was com17 mitted by a person who is or has been in a social 

18 relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with 

19 the victim, as determined by the length of the rela20 tionship, the type of relationship, and the frequency 

21 of interaction between the persons involved in the re22 lationship.’’; 

23 (B) by striking paragraph (2); 

24 (C) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (3), 

25 (4), (5), (6), and (7) as paragraphs (5), (7), 

26 (9), (10), (11), and (12), respectively; 


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1 (D) by inserting before paragraph (5) (as 

2 so redesignated) the following: 

3 ‘‘(1) ASSAULT OF TRIBAL JUSTICE PER4 SONNEL.—The term ‘assault of tribal justice per5 sonnel’ means any violation of the criminal law of 

6 the Indian tribe that has jurisdiction over the Indian 

7 country where the violation occurs that involves the 

8 use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical 

9 force against an individual authorized to act for, or 

10 on behalf of, that Indian tribe or serving that Indian 

11 tribe during, or because of, the performance of du12 ties of that individual in— 

13 ‘‘(A) preventing, detecting, investigating, 

14 making arrests relating to, making apprehen15 sions for, or prosecuting a covered crime; 

16 ‘‘(B) adjudicating, participating in the ad17 judication of, or supporting the adjudication of 

18 a covered crime; 

19 ‘‘(C) detaining, providing supervision for, 

20 or providing services for persons charged with 

21 a covered crime; or 

22 ‘‘(D) incarcerating, supervising, providing 

23 treatment for, providing rehabilitation services 

24 for, or providing reentry services for persons 

25 convicted of a covered crime. 


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1 ‘‘(2) CHILD.—The term ‘child’ means a person 

2 who has not attained the lesser of— 

3 ‘‘(A) the age of 18; and 

4 ‘‘(B) except in the case of sexual abuse, 

5 the age specified by the criminal law of the In6 dian tribe that has jurisdiction over the Indian 

7 country where the violation occurs. 

8 ‘‘(3) CHILD VIOLENCE.—The term ‘child vio9 lence’ means the use, threatened use, or attempted 

10 use of violence against a child proscribed by the 

11 criminal law of the Indian tribe that has jurisdiction 

12 over the Indian country where the violation occurs. 

13 ‘‘(4) COVERED CRIME.—The term ‘covered 

14 crime’ means— 

15 ‘‘(A) assault of tribal justice personnel; 

16 ‘‘(B) child violence; 

17 ‘‘(C) dating violence; 

18 ‘‘(D) domestic violence; 

19 ‘‘(E) obstruction of justice; and 

20 ‘‘(F) a violation of a protection order.’’; 

21 (E) by inserting after paragraph (5) (as so 

22 redesignated) the following: 

23 ‘‘(6) DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.—The term ‘domes24 tic violence’ means any violation of the criminal law 

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1 dian country where the violation occurs that is com2 mitted by— 

3 ‘‘(A) a current or former spouse or inti4 mate partner of the victim; 

5 ‘‘(B) a person with whom the victim shares 

6 a child in common; 

7 ‘‘(C) a person who is cohabitating with or 

8 has cohabitated with the victim as a spouse or 

9 intimate partner; or 

10 ‘‘(D) a person similarly situated to a 

11 spouse of the victim under the domestic- or 

12 family-violence laws of the Indian tribe that has 

13 jurisdiction over the Indian country where the 

14 violation occurs.’’; 

15 (F) by inserting after paragraph (7) (as so 

16 redesignated) the following: 

17 ‘‘(8) OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE.—The term 

18 ‘obstruction of justice’ means any violation— 

19 ‘‘(A) of the criminal law of the Indian tribe 

20 that has jurisdiction over the Indian country 

21 where the violation occurs; and 

22 ‘‘(B) that involves interfering with the ad23 ministration or due process of the laws of the 

24 Indian tribe, including any tribal criminal pro25 ceeding or investigation of a crime.’’; 


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1 (G) in paragraph (9) (as so redesignated), 

2 by striking ‘‘domestic violence’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘tribal’’; 

4 (H) in paragraph (11) (as so redesig5 nated)— 

6 (i) in the paragraph heading, by strik7 ing ‘‘DOMESTIC VIOLENCE’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘TRIBAL’’; and 

9 (ii) by striking ‘‘domestic violence’’ 

10 and inserting ‘‘tribal’’; and 

11 (I) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(13) VIOLATION OF A PROTECTION ORDER.— 

13 The term ‘violation of a protection order’ means an 

14 act that— 

15 ‘‘(A) occurs in the Indian country of the 

16 participating tribe; and 

17 ‘‘(B) violates a provision of a protection 

18 order that— 

19 ‘‘(i) prohibits or provides protection 

20 against violent or threatening acts or har21 assment against, sexual violence against, 

22 contact or communication with, or physical 

23 proximity to, another person; 

24 ‘‘(ii) was issued against the defend25 ant; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) is enforceable by the partici2 pating tribe; and 

3 ‘‘(iv) is consistent with section 

4 2265(b) of title 18, United States Code.’’; 

5 (3) in subsection (b)— 

6 (A) by striking ‘‘domestic violence’’ each 

7 place the term appears and inserting ‘‘tribal’’; 

8 (B) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘, in9 cluding any participating tribe in the State of 

10 Maine,’’ before ‘‘include’’; and 

11 (C) in paragraph (4)— 

12 (i) in subparagraph (A)(i), by insert13 ing ‘‘, other than obstruction of justice or 

14 assault of tribal justice personnel,’’ after 

15 ‘‘offense’’; and 

16 (ii) in subparagraph (B)(iii), in the 

17 matter preceding subclause (I), by striking 

18 ‘‘, or dating partner’’ and inserting ‘‘, dat19 ing partner, or caregiver’’; 

20 (4) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the 

21 following: 

22 ‘‘(c) CRIMINAL CONDUCT.—A participating tribe may 

23 exercise special tribal criminal jurisdiction over a defend24 ant for a covered crime that occurs in the Indian country 

25 of the participating tribe.’’; 


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1 (5) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘domestic vio2 lence’’ each place the term appears and inserting 

3 ‘‘tribal’’; and 

4 (6) by striking subsections (f) through (h) and 

5 inserting the following: 

6 ‘‘(f) GRANTS AND REIMBURSEMENT TO TRIBAL GOV7 ERNMENTS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) REIMBURSEMENT.— 

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

10 may reimburse Tribal government authorities 

11 (or an authorized designee of a Tribal govern12 ment) for expenses incurred in exercising spe13 cial tribal criminal jurisdiction. 

14 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE EXPENSES.—Eligible ex15 penses for reimbursement shall include expenses 

16 and costs incurred in, relating to, or associated 

17 with— 

18 ‘‘(i) investigating, making arrests re19 lating to, making apprehensions for, or 

20 prosecuting covered crimes (including costs 

21 involving the purchasing, collecting, and 

22 processing of sexual assault forensic mate23 rials); 

24 ‘‘(ii) detaining, providing supervision 

25 of, or providing services for persons 


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1 charged with covered crimes (including 

2 costs associated with providing health 

3 care); 

4 ‘‘(iii) providing indigent defense serv5 ices for 1 or more persons charged with 1 

6 or more covered crimes; and 

7 ‘‘(iv) incarcerating, supervising, or 

8 providing treatment, rehabilitation, or re9 entry services for 1 or more persons 

10 charged with 1 or more covered crimes. 

11 ‘‘(C) PROCEDURE.— 

12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Reimbursements 

13 authorized under subparagraph (A) shall 

14 be in accordance with rules promulgated by 

15 the Attorney General, after consultation 

16 with Indian tribes, and within 1 year after 

17 the date of enactment of the Native Youth 

18 and Tribal Officer Protection Act. 

19 ‘‘(ii) MAXIMUM REIMBURSEMENT.— 

20 The rules promulgated by the Attorney 

21 General under clause (i)— 

22 ‘‘(I) shall set a maximum allow23 able reimbursement to any Tribal gov24 ernment (or authorized designee of 


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1 any Tribal government) in a 1-year 

2 period; and 

3 ‘‘(II) may allow the Attorney 

4 General— 

5 ‘‘(aa) to establish conditions 

6 under which a Tribal government 

7 (or an authorized designee of a 

8 Tribal government) may seek a 

9 waiver of the maximum allowable 

10 reimbursement requirement es11 tablished under subclause (I); 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(bb) waive the maximum 

14 allowable reimbursement require15 ment established under subclause 

16 (I) for a Tribal government (or 

17 an authorized designee of a Trib18 al government) if the conditions 

19 established by the Attorney Gen20 eral under item (aa) are met by 

21 that Tribal government (or au22 thorized designee). 

23 ‘‘(iii) TIMELINESS OF REIMBURSE24 MENTS.—To the maximum extent prac25 ticable, the Attorney General shall— 


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1 ‘‘(I) not later than 90 days after 

2 the date on which the Attorney Gen3 eral receives a qualifying reimburse4 ment request from a Tribal govern5 ment (or an authorized designee of a 

6 Tribal government)— 

7 ‘‘(aa) reimburse the Tribal 

8 government (or authorized des9 ignee); or 

10 ‘‘(bb) notify the Tribal gov11 ernment (or authorized designee) 

12 of the reason why the Attorney 

13 General was unable to issue the 

14 reimbursement; and 

15 ‘‘(II) not later than 30 days after 

16 the date on which a Tribal govern17 ment (or an authorized designee of a 

18 Tribal government) reaches the an19 nual maximum allowable reimburse20 ment for the Tribal government (or 

21 authorized designee) established by 

22 the Attorney General under clause 

23 (ii)(I), notify the Tribal government 

24 (or authorized designee) that the 

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1 nual maximum allowable reimburse2 ment. 

3 ‘‘(2) GRANTS.—The Attorney General may 

4 award grants to the governments of Indian tribes (or 

5 to authorized designees of those governments)— 

6 ‘‘(A) to strengthen tribal criminal justice 

7 systems to assist Indian tribes in exercising 

8 special tribal criminal jurisdiction, including 

9 for— 

10 ‘‘(i) law enforcement, including the 

11 capacity of law enforcement, court per12 sonnel, or other non-law enforcement enti13 ties that have no Federal or State arrest 

14 authority agencies but have been des15 ignated by an Indian tribe as responsible 

16 for maintaining public safety within the 

17 territorial jurisdiction of the Indian tribe, 

18 to enter information into and obtain infor19 mation from national crime information 

20 databases; 

21 ‘‘(ii) prosecution; 

22 ‘‘(iii) trial and appellate courts, in23 cluding facilities maintenance, renovation, 

24 rehabilitation, and construction; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) supervision and probation sys2 tems; 

3 ‘‘(v) detention and correctional facili4 ties, including facilities maintenance, ren5 ovation, rehabilitation, and construction; 

6 ‘‘(vi) treatment, rehabilitation, and re7 entry programs and services; 

8 ‘‘(vii) culturally appropriate services 

9 and assistance for victims and their fami10 lies; and 

11 ‘‘(viii) criminal codes and rules of 

12 criminal procedure, appellate procedure, 

13 and evidence; 

14 ‘‘(B) to provide indigent criminal defend15 ants with the effective assistance of licensed de16 fense counsel, at no cost to the defendant, in 

17 criminal proceedings in which a participating 

18 tribe prosecutes covered crimes; 

19 ‘‘(C) to ensure that, in criminal pro20 ceedings in which a participating tribe exercises 

21 special tribal criminal jurisdiction, jurors are 

22 summoned, selected, and instructed in a man23 ner consistent with all applicable requirements; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(D) to accord victims of covered crimes 

2 rights that are similar to the rights of a crime 

3 victim described in section 3771(a) of title 18, 

4 United States Code, consistent with tribal law 

5 and custom. 

6 ‘‘(g) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—Amounts 

7 made available under subsection (f)(2) shall supplement 

8 and not supplant any other Federal, State, or local govern9 ment amounts made available to carry out activities de10 scribed in this section. 

11 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

12 is authorized to be appropriated $15,000,000 for each of 

13 fiscal years 2023 through 2027 to carry out subsection 

14 (f) and to provide training, technical assistance, data col15 lection, and evaluation of the criminal justice systems of 

16 participating tribes. 

17 ‘‘(i) USE OF FUNDS.—Of the funds appropriated 

18 under this section for each fiscal year— 

19 ‘‘(1) not less than 25 percent, but not more 

20 than 40 percent, shall be used for the purposes de21 scribed in subsection (f)(1); and 

22 ‘‘(2) not less than 25 percent shall be used for 

23 the purposes described in subsection (f)(2).’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. INCREASED INTERAGENCY COORDINATION. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior and 

3 the Secretary of Health and Human Services (referred to 

4 in this section as the ‘‘Secretaries’’) shall coordinate with 

5 the Attorney General to ensure, to the maximum extent 

6 practicable, that Federal programs to support Tribal jus7 tice systems and to support provision of victim services 

8 for Indians are working effectively together to serve the 

9 needs of Indian Tribes and Indians (as the terms are de10 fined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and 

11 Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)). 

12 (b) COORDINATION OF FEDERAL INDIAN FACILITIES

13 WITH NATIONAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HOTLINE GRANT14 EES.—The Secretaries shall ensure that information for 

15 contacting any toll-free telephone hotline operated by re16 cipients of a grant authorized by section 313 of the Family 

17 Violence Protective Services Act (42 U.S.C. 10413) is 

18 posted and readily visible in each publicly accessible Fed19 eral facility utilized by— 

20 (1) the Indian Health Service; 

21 (2) the Bureau of Indian Affairs; or 

22 (3) the Bureau of Indian Education. 

23 (c) COORDINATION ON TRAINING FEDERAL INDIAN

24 PROGRAM EMPLOYEES TO RECOGNIZE AND RESPOND TO

25 DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.—The Secretaries (acting through 

26 the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, the Director 


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1 of the Bureau of Indian Education, and the Director of 

2 the Indian Health Service) shall coordinate with the Direc3 tor of the Office on Violence Against Women of the De4 partment of Justice and the Associate Commissioner for 

5 the Family and Youth Services Bureau of the Department 

6 of Health and Human Services to ensure that training ma7 terials on recognizing and responding to domestic violence 

8 are available to Tribal and Federal employees of— 

9 (1) the Indian Health Service; 

10 (2) the Bureau of Indian Affairs; and 

11 (3) the Bureau of Indian Education. 

12 SEC. 5. REPORT. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior 

14 (acting through the Assistant Secretary for Indian Af15 fairs), the Secretary of Health and Human Services (act16 ing through the Director of the Indian Health Service), 

17 and the Attorney General shall jointly submit a report 

18 to— 

19 (1) the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Sen20 ate; and 

21 (2) the Committee on Natural Resources of the 

22 House of Representatives. 

23 (b) CONTENTS OF THE REPORT.—The report re24 quired under subsection (a) shall include a description of 

25 the degree of effectiveness of— 


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1 (1) Federal programs that are intended to build 

2 the capacity of criminal justice systems of Indian 

3 tribes to investigate and prosecute offenses relating 

4 to dating violence, domestic violence, and child vio5 lence (as defined in section 204(a) of Public Law 

6 90–284 (25 U.S.C. 1304(a)) (commonly known as 

7 the ‘‘Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968’’)) and related 

8 conduct; 

9 (2) the coordination activities required under 

10 section 4, including compliance with the posting of 

11 domestic violence victim service access information 

12 required under section 4(b); and 

13 (3) the interagency employee training material 

14 development required under section 4(c). 

15 (c) TIMING.—The Secretary of the Interior, the Sec16 retary of Health and Human Services, and the Attorney 

17 General shall submit the report required under subsection 

18 (a) by not later than 4 years after the date of enactment 

19 of this Act. 

Æ 


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