BADGES for Native Communities Act
- house
- senate
- president
Last progress February 5, 2025 (10 months ago)
Introduced on February 5, 2025 by Teresa Leger Fernandez
Sponsors (5)
House Votes
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Natural Resources, and Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Senate Votes
Presidential Signature
AI Summary
This proposal focuses on the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people. It would require federal law enforcement to report and share information on these cases and improve how they are investigated. It also aims to support Tribal and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) officers with training and culturally appropriate wellness programs.
It creates a Tribal facilitator for the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System and calls for a report on staffing needs in Indian Country. It sets up grants to help tribes coordinate responses to missing-person and death investigations, launches a five-year program to conduct background checks for BIA law enforcement applicants, and orders an independent study of how federal agencies collect and process evidence and how quickly they respond. It also improves coordination so Tribal and BIA officers can access counseling and wellness support.
- Who is affected: Native families and communities; Tribal governments and police; BIA and other federal law enforcement; the Departments of Justice and the Interior; and the Government Accountability Office.
- What changes: better reporting and information sharing; a Tribal facilitator for the national missing persons system; grants to improve response; GAO studies on evidence handling and response times; and coordinated training and mental health/wellness support for officers.
- When: includes a five-year demonstration program for BIA law enforcement background checks.