North Dakota Code § 54-12-36

Missing indigenous people task force - Membership - Duties - Collection of
Open in Lexace · Ask the AI about this section
data on missing persons - Continuing appropriation - Legislative management report. 
(Expired effective August 1, 2035)
1. There is created a missing indigenous people task force. The attorney general, or the 
attorney general's designee, shall serve as the chairman of the task force and the 
attorney general's office shall provide staff services for the task force.
2. The task force shall meet at least once each quarter.
3. The task force membership must include the following members:
a. The superintendent of public instruction, or the superintendent's designee;
b. The chief of the bureau of criminal investigation, or the chief's designee;
c. The executive director of the Indian affairs commission, or the executive director's 
designee;
d. The superintendent of the state highway patrol, or the superintendent's designee; 
e. A representative from each of the federally recognized Indian nations, tribes, or 
bands in this state, appointed by the attorney general from a list of two or more 
nominees from the chairman of each tribe;
f. Two members of the house of representatives, one appointed by the majority 
leader of the house of representatives and one appointed by the minority leader 
of the house of representatives; and
g. Two members of the senate, one appointed by the majority leader of the senate 
and one appointed by the minority leader of the senate.
4. While respecting the government-to-government relationship between the state and 
each tribe, the primary duties of the task force are to:

a. Identify jurisdictional barriers between federal, state, local, and tribal law 
enforcement and community agencies;
b. Identify causes that contribute to missing and murdered indigenous people and 
make recommendations to federally recognized tribes in the state to reduce 
cases of missing and murdered indigenous people;
c. Identify strategies to improve interagency communication, cooperation, and 
collaboration to remove jurisdictional barriers and increase reporting and 
investigation of missing indigenous people;
d. Administer the missing indigenous people grant fund; and
e. Consult with the United States department of justice office of tribal justice to invite 
a federal liaison or representative for consultation on the federal Savanna's Act 
[Pub. L. 116-165; 134 Stat. 760; 25 U.S.C. 5701 et seq.].
5. The task force shall submit a report of its activities, findings, and any 
recommendations to the legislative management by August first of each year. The 
report must include:
a. The number of indigenous individuals reported missing in the missing person 
repository;
b. The number of indigenous individuals recovered as a result of the missing person 
repository;
c. The number of indigenous individuals recovered as a result of the missing 
indigenous people grant fund;
d. The number of missing indigenous individuals searched for and recovered;
e. The number of missing indigenous individuals entries into the missing person 
repository by year;
f. An analysis by year of the characteristics of missing indigenous people, including 
age, gender, child protective services involvement status, foster case status, 
duration of time missing, and estimated related cause;
g. The number of actively missing indigenous people by year;
h. A description of the activities and progress related to improving interagency 
communication, cooperation, and collaboration and removing interjurisdictional 
barriers; and
i. Any other information the task force finds relevant to the task force's mission.
6. The task force may make recommendations to federal, state, and local agencies in 
carrying out the task force's duties.
7. Money in the missing indigenous people grant fund is appropriated on a continuing 
basis to the task force for the purpose of supporting the efforts of a federally 
recognized Indian nation, tribe, or band in this state, to identify, report, and find missing 
indigenous people. The director of the office of management and budget shall transfer 
any funds remaining in the missing indigenous people grant fund after July 31, 2035, 
to the general fund.
8. The attorney general shall implement a missing person repository for authorized users 
to enter missing person information in accordance with rules established by the bureau 
of criminal investigation. Missing person information, including demographic data 
related to indigenous people, which is entered by an authorized user or made 
available to an authorized user by a federally recognized tribe in this state must be 
included in the repository. Records under this subsection are exempt records that may 
be disclosed only in accordance with bureau of criminal investigation rules.

‹ Prev All North Dakota sections Next ›


Lexace provides legal information, not legal advice, and no attorney–client relationship is created. Statute text is provided for general information and may not reflect the most recent amendments; verify against the official state code.