[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 164 (Monday, August 25, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50698-50699]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-20064]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

[OMB Number 1121-NEW]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed eCollection 
eComments Requested; New Collection 2014 National Survey of Tribal 
Court Systems (NSTCS-14)

AGENCY: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Department of Justice.

ACTION: 30-Day notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs 
(OJP), Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) will submit the following 
information collection to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for 
review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995. The proposed information collection was previously published in 
the Federal Register Volume 79, Number 57, pages 16375-16376 on March 
25, 2014, allowing a 60-day comment period. Following publication of 
the 60-day notice, the Bureau of Justice Statistics received and 
responded to multiple requests for a copy of the proposed information 
collection instrument and instructions. BJS received comments for 
questionnaire improvements and suggestions for important items to be 
included from the Office of Justice Services, at the Bureau of Indian 
Affairs; the American Probation and Parole Association; the Tribal Law 
and Policy Institute; Indian Country Justice Partners; the Pretrial 
Justice Institute (PJI); and the National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration of Texas and the BIA Indian Highway Safety Program.

DATES: Comments are encouraged and will be accepted for an additional 
``thirty days'' until September 24, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have comments especially on the 
estimated public burden or associated response time, suggestions, or 
need a copy of the proposed information collection instrument with 
instructions or additional information, please contact Steven W. Perry, 
Statistician, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 810 Seventh St. NW., 
Washington, DC 20531 (email [email protected]; telephone 202-
307-0765). Written comments and/or suggestions can also be directed to 
the Office of Management and Budget, Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Attention Department of Justice Desk Officer, 
Washington, DC 20530 or sent to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Written comments and suggestions from the 
public and affected agencies concerning the proposed collection of 
information are encouraged. Your comments should address one or more of 
the following four points:

--Evaluate whether the collection of information is necessary for the 
proper performance of the functions of the Bureau of Justice 
Statistics, including whether the information will have practical 
utility;
--Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
collection of information, including the validity of the methodology 
and assumptions use;
--Evaluate whether and if so how the quality, utility, and clarity of 
the information to be collected can be enhanced; and
--Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are 
to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology, e.g. permitting electronic 
submission of responses.

Overview of This Information Collection

    (1) Type of Information Collection: New statistical data 
collection.
    (2) Title of the Form/Collection: National Survey of Tribal Court 
Systems (NSTCS).
    (3) Agency form number: The form labels include NSTCS-14L48; NSTCS-
14AK; and NSTCS-14CFR. Bureau of Justice Statistics, Office of Justice 
Programs, United States Department of Justice.
    (4) Affected public who will be asked to respond, as well as a 
brief abstract: Primary: This information collection is a census of 
tribal court systems that operated in Indian country or on tribal lands 
during 2014. The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) proposes to 
implement a National Survey of Tribal Courts (NSTCS). Tribal courts are 
diverse, with some being extensively elaborate in their development, 
some based on traditional or indigenous customs, and others are just 
beginning to develop a contemporary justice system. Over the past 
decade, legislation such as the Violence against Women Reauthorization 
Act of 2013, the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010, and the Adam Walsh 
Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (PL 109-248) have sought to 
improve public safety in Indian country through expanded jurisdiction 
over non-Indians for domestic violence cases, increased sentencing 
authority for tribal courts, and tracking of active protection orders 
and sex offenders through a registry or database systems. In addition, 
TLOA specifically requires the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) to 
(1) establish and implement a comprehensive tribal crime data 
collection system; (2) support tribal participation in national records 
and information systems (P.L. 111-211, 124 Stat. 2258, Sec.  251(b)); 
and (3) report to Congress annually the data collected and analyzed in 
accordance with the act. Existing information on tribal courts is 
extremely dated or was conducted with a narrow focus and did not 
include all of the distinctive areas or types of tribal courts that 
operate in the U.S.--the lower 48 States, Alaska, and the Courts of 
Indian Offenses. No reliable and recurring data are collected on the 
volume and types of criminal and civil cases handle in tribal courts 
annually, as well as the types of justice programs and services 
rendered in tribal communities. Hence, the NSTCS will fill these gaps 
and provide national level statistics on the administration and 
operation of trial and appellate courts in Indian country. The NSTCS is 
designed to provide BJS and other interested stakeholders with current 
empirical information on tribal court systems. A goal of the NSTCS is 
to obtain national statistics on the types of tribal forums, including 
joint jurisdictional tribal-state courts; staffing and qualifications; 
budgets; prosecution; public defense and civil legal services; 
pretrial, probation and reentry programs; juvenile justice cases; 
domestic violence and protection orders; enhanced sentencing and 
expanded jurisdiction capacity; and criminal justice information 
database access and reporting. These data will help BJS generate 
aggregate statistics on the organizational structure of the tribal

[[Page 50699]]

court system, the magnitude and types of cases handled, as well 
establish baseline measures for comparisons in future iterations. 
Information will be collected for calendar year 2014.
    (5) An estimate of the total number of respondents and the amount 
of time needed for an average respondent to respond: BJS estimates 595 
respondents are eligible to complete this survey. BJS will submit the 
NSTCS to the 426 tribal courts identified in the lower 48 states and 
Alaska, the 29 Courts of Federal Regulation, and to the estimated 140 
federally recognized tribal governments for which the current existence 
of a tribal court is unknown. BJS will conduct a complete census of 
each tribal court, by location and type. Based on pilot testing an 
average of 2 hours each is needed to complete the form appropriate for 
the respective tribal systems: NSTCS-14L48, NSTCS-14AK, or NSTCS-14CFR. 
The NSTCS respondent burden of 2 hours is calculated using an estimate 
of per respondent by tribe, location or type of court. The burden hours 
were calculated as follows: (a) NSTCS-14L48 has an average respondent 
burden of 2 hours and 15 minutes and 336 tribal courts and/or tribes 
are located in the lower 48 states that will be sent this version of 
the survey (336 Lower 48 Courts/tribes * 2.25 = 756 hours); (b) NSTCS-
14AK has an average respondent burden of 2 hours and about 220 tribal 
courts and/or tribes located in Alaska will be sent this version of the 
survey (220 Alaska Courts * 2 = 460 hours); and c) NSTCS-14CFR has an 
average respondent burden of 1 hour and 30 minutes and about 29 CFR 
courts will be sent this version of the survey (29 CFR Courts * 1.5 = 
43.5 hours). The combined estimated respondent burden for completion of 
all three questionnaire versions is 1259.5 hours. BJS added 7% or about 
86.5 additional burden hours for the non-response follow-up and data 
validation (1259.5 + 86.5 =1,350 hours). The estimated combined range 
of burden for all respondents is between 1.5 to 2.5 hours for 
completion. The following factors were considered when creating the 
burden estimate: The total number of identified tribal courts, the 
number of tribes for which the existence of a tribal court or 
traditional justice forum is unknown, the ability of tribal courts to 
access or gather the data, and the case management and information 
system capabilities generally found within Indian country. BJS 
estimates that nearly all of the approximately 595 respondents will 
fully complete the questionnaire, either reporting their tribal court 
systems data and/or confirming the tribe does not operate any form of 
court system.
    (6) An estimate of the total public burden (in hours) associated 
with the collection: BJS has estimated the total respondent burden for 
the proposed 2014 NSTCS at 1,350 hours. This estimated total burden 
includes the time for completion by each federally recognized tribe 
and/or tribal court tribal courts, Courts of federal regulations, and 
subsequent time for non-response follow-up or validation. This new 
estimate of respondent burden has increased from the 300 burden hours 
noted in the 60 day notice, because BJS has since confirmed the name of 
426 tribal courts or traditional forums and will implement a strategy 
to reduce any coverage error for any potentially unknown tribal court 
systems.
    If additional information is required contact: Jerri Murray, 
Department Clearance Officer, United States Department of Justice, 
Justice Management Division, Policy and Planning Staff, Two 
Constitution Square, 145 N Street NE., Room 3E.405B, Washington, DC 
20530.

    Dated: August 19, 2014.
Jerri Murray,
Department Clearance Officer for PRA, U.S. Department of Justice.
[FR Doc. 2014-20064 Filed 8-22-14; 8:45 am]
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