[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 227 Engrossed in Senate (ES)]

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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.

    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.
            (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.

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, 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;
            (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.''.
    (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.''.

            Passed the Senate March 11, 2020.

            Attest:

                                                             Secretary.
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.