I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2740 
To protect Native children and promote public safety in Indian country. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 21, 2021 
Mr. O’HALLERAN (for himself and Mr. COLE) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addi-
tion to the Committees on Education and Labor, and Energy and Com-
merce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To protect Native children and promote public safety in 
Indian country. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Native Youth and 
Tribal Officer Protection Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) American Indians and Alaska Natives are 
2.5 times more likely to experience violent crimes 
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and at least 2 times more likely to experience rape 
or sexual assault crimes than people who are not 
American Indians or Alaskan Natives. 
(2) The vast majority of American Indian and 
Alaska Native victims, 96 percent of female and 89 
percent of male victims, report being victimized by 
a non-Indian. 
(3) According to a 2010 Government Account-
ability Office report, the Offices of the United States 
Attorneys declined to prosecute nearly 52 percent of 
violent crimes that occur in Indian country. 
(4) More than 4 in 5 American Indian and 
Alaska Native women have experienced violence in 
their lifetime. 
(5) According to the Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention, homicide is the third leading 
cause of death among American Indian and Alaska 
Native women between 10 and 24 years of age and 
the fifth leading cause of death for American Indian 
and Alaska Native women between 25 and 34 years 
of age. 
(6) On some reservations, American Indian 
women are murdered at more than 10 times the na-
tional average. 
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(7) Tribal prosecutors report that the majority 
of domestic violence cases involve children either as 
witnesses or victims, and the Department of Justice 
reports that American Indian and Alaska Native 
children suffer exposure to violence at some of the 
highest rates in the United States. 
(8) Childhood exposure to violence has imme-
diate and long-term effects, including increased rates 
of altered neurological development, poor physical 
and mental health, poor school performance, sub-
stance abuse, and overrepresentation in the juvenile 
justice system. 
(9) Violence against children and crimes associ-
ated with dating violence and domestic violence in-
crease the number of instances of trauma in Tribal 
communities, which— 
(A) affects health outcomes; 
(B) reduces educational attainment; 
(C) hinders economic growth; and 
(D) undermines public safety. 
(10) Domestic violence calls are among the 
most dangerous calls that law enforcement receives, 
and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform 
Crime Report shows that police officers, including 
Tribal police officers, are assaulted when responding 
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to disturbance calls more often than under any other 
circumstances. 
(11) The complicated jurisdictional structure in 
Indian country— 
(A) requires a high degree of commitment 
and cooperation among Tribal, Federal, and 
State law enforcement officials; and 
(B) when that cooperation breaks down, 
results in a significant negative impact on the 
ability to provide public safety to Indian com-
munities. 
(12) The Indian Law and Order Commission, 
established by Congress to review Federal criminal 
justice policies and practices in Indian country, 
issued a report in 2013 entitled ‘‘A Roadmap for 
Making Native America Safer’’ that recommends the 
restoration of the inherent authority of Tribal 
courts. 
(13) Restoring and enhancing local, Tribal ca-
pacity to address violent crimes provides for greater 
local control, safety, accountability, and trans-
parency. 
(14) Tribal communities should be able to pro-
tect themselves from dating violence, domestic vio-
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lence, child violence, and violence committed against 
members of the Tribal justice system. 
SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF NATIVE CHILDREN AND TRIBAL 
COMMUNITIES. 
Section 204 of Public Law 90–284 (25 U.S.C. 1304) 
is amended— 
(1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘DO-
MESTIC
VIOLENCE’’ and inserting ‘‘DOMESTIC 
VIOLENCE, CHILD VIOLENCE, AND VIOLENCE 
AGAINST LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS’’; 
(2) in subsection (a)— 
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘means 
violence’’ and inserting ‘‘means covered con-
duct’’; 
(B) in paragraph (2)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘means violence’’ and 
inserting ‘‘means covered conduct’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘where the violence oc-
curs’’ and inserting ‘‘where the covered 
conduct occurs’’; 
(C) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘domes-
tic violence’’ and inserting ‘‘tribal’’; 
(D) in paragraph (6)— 
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(i) in the paragraph heading, by strik-
ing ‘‘DOMESTIC VIOLENCE’’ and inserting 
‘‘TRIBAL’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘domestic violence’’ 
and inserting ‘‘tribal’’; 
(E) by redesignating paragraphs (6) and 
(7) as paragraphs (12) and (13), respectively; 
(F) 
by 
redesignating 
paragraphs 
(1) 
through (5) as paragraphs (6) through (10), re-
spectively; 
(G) by inserting before paragraph (6) (as 
redesignated by subparagraph (F)) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(1) 
CAREGIVER.—The 
term 
‘caregiver’ 
means— 
‘‘(A) the parent, guardian, or legal custo-
dian of the child; 
‘‘(B) the spouse or intimate partner of a 
parent, guardian, or legal custodian of the 
child; 
‘‘(C) any relative of the child, including a 
parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, step-
parent, brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, 
half-brother, or half-sister; 
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‘‘(D) a person who resides or has resided 
regularly or intermittently in the same dwelling 
as the child; 
‘‘(E) a person who provides or has pro-
vided care for the child in or out of the home 
of the child; 
‘‘(F) any person who exercises or has exer-
cised temporary or permanent control over the 
child; or 
‘‘(G) any person who temporarily or per-
manently supervises or has supervised the child. 
‘‘(2) CHILD.—The term ‘child’ means a person 
who has not attained the lesser of— 
‘‘(A) the age of 18; or 
‘‘(B) except in the case of sexual abuse, 
the age specified by the child protection law of 
the participating tribe that has jurisdiction over 
the Indian country where the child resides. 
‘‘(3) CHILD VIOLENCE.—The term ‘child vio-
lence’ means covered conduct committed against a 
child by a caregiver of the child. 
‘‘(4) COVERED CONDUCT.—The term ‘covered 
conduct’ means conduct that— 
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‘‘(A) involves the use, attempted use, or 
threatened use of physical force against the per-
son or property of another; and 
‘‘(B) violates the criminal law of the In-
dian tribe that has jurisdiction over the Indian 
country where the conduct occurs. 
‘‘(5) COVERED
INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘cov-
ered individual’ means an officer or employee of an 
Indian tribe, or an individual authorized to act for 
or on behalf of an Indian tribe or serving an Indian 
tribe, who is— 
‘‘(A) authorized under law to— 
‘‘(i) engage in or supervise the preven-
tion, detection, investigation, arrest, pre-
trial detention, prosecution, or adjudication 
of an offense or the sentencing, including 
the probation, parole, incarceration, or re-
habilitation, of an individual; or 
‘‘(ii) serve as a probation or pretrial 
services officer; and 
‘‘(B) carrying out an activity described in 
paragraph (11)(C).’’; and 
(H) by inserting after paragraph (10) (as 
redesignated by subparagraph (F)) the fol-
lowing: 
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‘‘(11) RELATED CONDUCT.—The term ‘related 
conduct’ means a violation of the criminal law of an 
Indian tribe that is committed— 
‘‘(A) against a covered individual; 
‘‘(B) by a person— 
‘‘(i) who is subject to special tribal 
criminal jurisdiction; and 
‘‘(ii) has committed criminal conduct 
that falls into one or more of the cat-
egories described in paragraphs (1) and 
(2) of subsection (c); and 
‘‘(C) in the course of resisting or inter-
fering with the prevention, detection, investiga-
tion, arrest, pretrial detention, prosecution, ad-
judication, or sentencing, including the proba-
tion, parole, incarceration, or rehabilitation, of 
that person relating to that criminal conduct.’’; 
(3) in subsection (b)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘domestic violence’’ each 
place it appears and inserting ‘‘tribal’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (4)(B)(iii), in the matter 
preceding subclause (I), by striking ‘‘, or dating 
partner’’ and inserting ‘‘, dating partner, or 
caregiver’’; 
(4) in subsection (c)— 
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(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 
by striking ‘‘domestic violence’’ and inserting 
‘‘tribal’’; 
(B) in paragraph (1)— 
(i) in the paragraph heading, by strik-
ing ‘‘AND DATING VIOLENCE’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘, DATING VIOLENCE, AND CHILD VIO-
LENCE’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘or dating violence’’ 
and inserting ‘‘, dating violence, or child 
violence’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(3) RELATED CONDUCT.—An act of related 
conduct that occurs in the Indian country of the 
participating tribe.’’; 
(5) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘domestic vio-
lence’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘tribal’’; 
(6) in subsection (f)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘special domestic violence’’ 
each place it appears and inserting ‘‘special 
tribal’’; 
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘pros-
ecutes’’ and all that follows through the semi-
colon at the end and inserting the following: 
‘‘prosecutes— 
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‘‘(A) a crime of domestic violence; 
‘‘(B) a crime of dating violence; 
‘‘(C) a crime of child violence; 
‘‘(D) a criminal violation of a protection 
order; or 
‘‘(E) a crime of related conduct;’’; and 
(C) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘child 
violence, related conduct,’’ after ‘‘dating vio-
lence,’’; and 
(7) in subsection (h), by striking ‘‘2014 
through 2018’’ and inserting ‘‘2018 through 2022’’. 
SEC. 4. INCREASED INTERAGENCY COORDINATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior and 
the Secretary of Health and Human Services (referred to 
in this section as the ‘‘Secretaries’’) shall coordinate with 
the Attorney General to ensure, to the maximum extent 
practicable, that Federal programs to support tribal jus-
tice systems and to support provision of victim services 
for Indians are working effectively together to serve the 
needs of Indian tribes and Indians (as such terms are de-
fined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and 
Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)). 
(b) COORDINATION OF FEDERAL INDIAN FACILITIES 
WITH NATIONAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HOTLINE GRANT-
EES.—The Secretaries shall ensure that information for 
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contacting any toll-free telephone hotline operated by re-
cipients of a grant authorized by section 313 of the Family 
Violence Protective Services Act (42 U.S.C. 10413), is 
posted and readily visible in each publicly accessible Fed-
eral facility utilized by— 
(1) the Indian Health Services; 
(2) the Bureau of Indian Affairs; or 
(3) the Bureau of Indian Education. 
(c) COORDINATION ON TRAINING FEDERAL INDIAN 
PROGRAM EMPLOYEES TO RECOGNIZE AND RESPOND TO 
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.—The Secretaries (acting through 
the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, the Director 
of the Bureau of Indian Education, and the Director of 
the Indian Health Service) shall coordinate with the Direc-
tor of the Office on Violence Against Women of the De-
partment of Justice and the Associate Commissioner for 
the Family and Youth Services Bureau of the Department 
of Health and Human Services to ensure that training ma-
terials on recognizing and responding to domestic violence 
are available to tribal and Federal employees of— 
(1) the Indian Health Services; 
(2) the Bureau of Indian Affairs; and 
(3) the Bureau of Indian Education. 
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SEC. 5. REPORT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior 
(acting through the Assistant Secretary for Indian Af-
fairs) and the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
(acting through the Director of the Indian Health Service) 
shall jointly submit a report to— 
(1) the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Sen-
ate; and 
(2) the Committee on Natural Resources of the 
House of Representatives. 
(b) CONTENTS OF THE REPORT.—The report re-
quired under subsection (a) shall include a description of 
the degree of effectiveness of— 
(1) Federal programs that are intended to build 
the capacity of criminal justice systems of Indian 
tribes to investigate and prosecute offenses relating 
to dating violence, domestic violence, child violence, 
and related conduct (as defined in section 204 of 
Public Law 90–284 (25 U.S.C. 1304), as amended 
by section 3(2)); 
(2) the required coordination activities required 
under section 4, including compliance with the post-
ing of domestic violence victim service access infor-
mation required under section 4(b); and 
(3) the interagency employee training material 
development required under section 4(c). 
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(c) TIMING.—The Secretary of the Interior and the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services shall submit the 
report required under subsection (a) by not later than 4 
years after the date of enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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