I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4289 
To require Federal law enforcement agencies to report on cases of missing 
or murdered Indians, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 11, 2019 
Ms. HAALAND (for herself, Ms. DAVIDS of Kansas, Mr. COLE, Mr. MULLIN, 
Mr. YOUNG, Mr. O’HALLERAN, Mr. COOK, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. 
NEWHOUSE, Mrs. TORRES of California, and Ms. MOORE) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and 
in addition to the Committees on Natural Resources, Energy and Com-
merce, and Oversight and Reform, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To require Federal law enforcement agencies to report on 
cases of missing or murdered Indians, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Bridging Agency Data Gaps and Ensuring Safety for 
Native Communities Act’’ or the ‘‘BADGES for Native 
Communities Act’’. 
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(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
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 coun-
seling resources interdepartmental coordination. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 
the Director of the Office of Justice Services. 
(2) FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.— 
The term ‘‘Federal law enforcement agency’’ means 
the Bureau of Indian Affairs direct-service police, 
the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and any other 
Federal law enforcement agency that— 
(A) has jurisdiction over crimes in Indian 
country; or 
(B) investigates missing persons cases of 
interest to Indian tribes, murder cases of inter-
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(14) RELEVANT TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.—The 
term ‘‘relevant tribal organization’’ means, as appli-
cable— 
(A) a tribal organization; and 
(B) a national or regional organization 
that— 
(i) represents a substantial Indian 
constituency; and 
(ii) has expertise in the fields of— 
(I) human trafficking of Indians; 
(II) human trafficking on Indian 
lands; 
(III) 
violence 
against 
Indian 
women and children; or 
(IV) Tribal justice systems. 
(15) 
SECRETARY.—The 
term 
‘‘Secretary’’ 
means the Secretary of the Interior. 
(16) TRIBAL
JUSTICE
OFFICIAL.—The term 
‘‘tribal justice official’’ has the meaning given the 
term in section 2 of the Indian Law Enforcement 
Reform Act (25 U.S.C. 2801). 
(17) TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘tribal 
organization’’ has the meaning given the term in 
section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu-
cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 
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(18) UNIDENTIFIED REMAINS CASE OF INTER-
EST TO INDIAN TRIBES.—The term ‘‘unidentified re-
mains case of interest to Indian tribes’’ means a 
case involving— 
(A) unidentified Indian remains; or 
(B) unidentified remains found on, in, or 
near Indian land. 
TITLE I—BRIDGING AGENCY 
DATA GAPS 
SEC. 101. FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT DATABASE RE-
PORTING REQUIREMENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 151(a) of the Sex Of-
fender Registration and Notification Act (34 U.S.C. 
20961(a)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 
the semicolon; 
(2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para-
graph (3); and 
(3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(2) the National Missing and Unidentified 
Persons System, to be used by a person accessing 
the System only within the scope of the work of the 
person in assisting or supporting law enforcement 
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efforts to solve missing, unidentified, and unclaimed 
person cases across the United States; and’’. 
(b) SHARING OF INFORMATION.—Not later than 2 
years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney 
General shall, in a manner that maintains the integrity 
of confidential, private, and law enforcement sensitive in-
formation, provide for information on missing persons and 
unidentified remains contained in national crime informa-
tion databases to be transmitted to, entered in, and other-
wise shared with the National Missing and Unidentified 
Persons System. 
(c) TEMPORARY REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Until 
such time as the data sharing procedures required under 
subsection (b) are in effect, each Federal law enforcement 
agency shall enter into the National Missing and Unidenti-
fied Persons System each missing persons case of interest 
to Indian tribes and each unidentified remains case of in-
terest to Indian tribes reported to or investigated by the 
Federal law enforcement agency. 
(d) COORDINATION WITH NAMUS TRIBAL LIAI-
SON.—The Director and the Director of the Federal Bu-
reau of Investigation shall each appoint a liaison to coordi-
nate with the one or more Tribal liaisons appointed under 
section (4)(a) to ensure that— 
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(1) all missing persons cases of interest to In-
dian tribes and all unidentified remains cases of in-
terest to Indian tribes are fully captured in the Na-
tional Missing and Unidentified Persons System; 
and 
(2) Indian tribes are aware of, and able to ac-
cess, information in the National Missing and Un-
identified Persons System. 
SEC. 102. NATIONAL MISSING AND UNIDENTIFIED PERSONS 
SYSTEM TRIBAL LIAISON. 
(a) APPOINTMENT.—The Attorney General, acting 
through the Director of the National Institute of Justice, 
shall appoint one or more Tribal liaisons for the National 
Missing and Unidentified Persons System. 
(b) DUTIES.—The duties of a Tribal liaison ap-
pointed under subsection (a) shall include— 
(1) coordinating the reporting of information 
relating to missing persons cases of interest to In-
dian tribes and unidentified remains cases of inter-
est to Indian tribes; 
(2) consulting and coordinating with Indian 
tribes and relevant tribal organizations to address 
the reporting, documentation, and tracking of miss-
ing persons cases of interest to Indian tribes and un-
identified remains cases of interest to Indian tribes; 
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(3) developing working relationships, and main-
taining communication, with Indian tribes and rel-
evant tribal organizations; 
(4) providing technical assistance and training 
to Indian tribes and relevant tribal organizations, 
victim service advocates, medical examiners, and 
tribal justice officials regarding— 
(A) the gathering and reporting of infor-
mation to the National Missing and Unidenti-
fied Persons System; and 
(B) working with non-Tribal law enforce-
ment agencies to ensure all missing persons 
cases of interest to Indian tribes and unidenti-
fied remains cases of interest to Indian tribes 
are reported to the National Missing and Un-
identified Persons System; 
(5) coordinating with the Office of Tribal Jus-
tice and the Office of Justice Services, as necessary; 
and 
(6) conducting other training, information gath-
ering, and outreach activities to improve resolution 
of missing persons cases of interest to Indian tribes 
and unidentified remains cases of interest to Indian 
tribes. 
(c) REPORTING AND TRANSPARENCY.— 
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(1) ANNUAL REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—During 
the 3-year period beginning on the date of enact-
ment of this Act, the Attorney General, acting 
through the Director of the National Institute of 
Justice, shall submit to the Committees on Indian 
Affairs and the Judiciary of the Senate and the 
Committees on Natural Resources and the Judiciary 
of the House of Representatives an annual report— 
(A) describing the activities and accom-
plishments of the one or more Tribal liaisons 
appointed under subsection (a) during the 1- 
year period preceding the date of the report; 
and 
(B) summarizing— 
(i) the number of missing persons 
cases of interest to Indian tribes and un-
identified remains cases of interest to In-
dian tribes listed in the National Missing 
and Unidentified Persons System; 
(ii) the percentage of missing persons 
cases of interest to Indian tribes and un-
identified remains cases of interest to In-
dian tribes closed during the 1-year period 
preceding the date of the report; and 
(iii) the reasons for those closures. 
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