[{"_1":2,"_99":-5,"_100":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":44,"_46":47,"_48":49,"_50":51,"_52":53,"_54":55,"_56":57,"_58":59,"_60":61,"_62":63,"_64":65,"_66":67,"_68":69,"_70":71,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6569934,"mediaKeyId","3217698-0803fcb446ba713dbd75ac52ba3aa00f","parentId",3217698,"title","Attorney General’s office, sheriffs and advocates outline data, training and funding steps on MMIP","audioSeconds",0,"startMs",11091000,"endMs","viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=3217698-0803fcb446ba713dbd75ac52ba3aa00f&start=11091&end=11091","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3217698-0803fcb446ba713dbd75ac52ba3aa00f/thumbnail_11091000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6569934/California/Attorney-Generals-office-sheriffs-and-advocates-outline-data-training-and-funding-steps-on-MMIP","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6569934-d9e3b2659153aebbbef853f1dca1b6bb/orig.mp4?Expires=1773033607&Signature=ITtGSIrc-o6r~YTPL~fqzB00EzjAKhVAiy6hl-ruXYkLHgUjqjW1uIQ4yrm-VzpUSrfaVcnveataRuJURY6EDzFTnbvNCU49AkIqgj3u9lakfVwbBxwUrKLVm0yDrB9Ygo2EAkCbAeKnEzJ9f8kb2MlN8rUTTan32h50bA35mro0ECYu8jdZCxUf0ttk4NxRdZGnenos8r3orOVE7kZiEMdmjO~0tCS0kvt6I~ME2QgwUHd9qEz9hqkKbl5Ttt1NHMVrapQuiCucOf2KrnW1NGPC8cnDJiTtcIMK4pzk0YKJFL0u9ikspKDWw7LkWIhOrtBiCaXbN2GHN1fdNpoasQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","House","date","2025-05-07T00:00:00Z","article","Acting Director Isaac Borges of the California Department of Justice’s Office of Native American Affairs, county sheriffs and tribal victim‑service providers testified on current and planned state actions to address MMIP, detailing training, data work and grant‑funded programs.

Borges described the department’s initiatives: regional Missing in California, Indian Country (MICIC) efforts, the Native American Marsy’s Law card for victims, a tribal community response plan pilot (“Being Prepared Together”) and the AG’s advisory council on Public Law 280, which is developing updated officer training with POST (Peace Officer Standards and Training). He said the department supports several bills moving through the Legislature and that training will be opened to tribal partners.

Humboldt County Sheriff William Hansel and San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus addressed operational challenges. Hansel cited underfunded crime labs and said Humboldt has used familial DNA and outside labs — at roughly $10,000 per test — to solve cases when state lab capacity lagged. He urged increased state investment in DOJ forensic laboratories. Dicus emphasized the “street view”: patterns of addiction, mental illness and organized exploitation require 24/7 wraparound victim services, not just law‑enforcement response, and said many missing‑person cases can be solved by systematic collection of scene evidence, timely community reporting and victim services.

Program director Samantha Thornsberry (Cahuilla Consortium Victim Advocacy Program) described a state BSCC MMIP cohort award that funded staff and a plan to create a web hub for tribal resources (regional directories, contact points to initiate alerts and survivor supports). Thornsberry said the hub would be designed by tribes for tribes, include prevention education and remote advocacy, and be ready for rollout by fall.

April McGill, executive director of the American Indian Cultural Center (San Francisco), urged transparency in data and a city‑level model: annual reporting on unresolved MMIP cases, culturally rooted healing services, and urban shelter and housing for survivors. McGill said San Francisco ranks among cities with elevated MMIP caseloads and asked for city‑tribal partnerships to strengthen investigations, DNA testing and victim services.

Ending: Law‑enforcement witnesses and tribal advocates requested sustained state funding for forensic labs, expanded POST training for PL 280 jurisdictions, permanent support for tribal victim services and continued data partnerships between counties, the DOJ and tribal governments.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Assembly Select Committee on Native American Affairs","oneSentenceSummary","State Department of Justice staff, county sheriffs and tribal service providers described pilot programs, training work, forensic needs, and new state grant recipients for MMIP services; law-enforcement witnesses called for sustained DNA and lab funding and better cross-jurisdictional coordination with tribal partners.","taxTitle","California State Assembly, House, Legislative, California","taxId",17099,"location","California","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_46":81,"_48":82,"_50":83,"_52":84,"_54":55,"_56":57,"_58":85,"_60":61,"_62":63,"_64":86,"_66":67,"_68":69,"_70":71,"_72":73,"_74":73},6569939,"Experts and advocates tell Assembly Public Law 280 and underfunding magnify trafficking and MMIP crisis",3385,5903000,9288000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3217698-0803fcb446ba713dbd75ac52ba3aa00f&start=5903&end=9288","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3217698-0803fcb446ba713dbd75ac52ba3aa00f/thumbnail_5903000.jpg","/articles/6569939/California/Experts-and-advocates-tell-Assembly-Public-Law-280-and-underfunding-magnify-trafficking-and-MMIP-crisis","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6569939-9316953402b3710331b8ec69faf1bbbd/orig.mp4?Expires=1773033607&Signature=SE8Kc2Orv5vf3a571iAnYTuSrHA4JqLlYs2tzAsHczh2jghv2f19C3bSR8A7AvE-nv-aVqBK~8V9ABaWwNhFxAOayOK18s6sp2J9fJmyNVpQXk2skBbV74vOyYAPL6k1Ob3N2IDiefevSVy4ZRy8A8AKDM7RtzbM0l~XupU7~jn1~vZYcAMDp71~YkJST3F0mj7UfMktyoviTLnYlwXNYpOANgGHF6nSFaHELifUEkE4CkQCQXEOevOJ0abOUIouWL9NpOK4ClaNm66RC0uIjTkY6Ix3hTVLb8WHLOx67GIlBvopuXH3Kj-d~Vscl1wmh7TLm8GO-ZMRlSOahQ0zKA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","At a California State Assembly select committee hearing, legal scholars, tribal leaders and anti‑trafficking advocates said Public Law 280 (PL 280) — the 1953 federal law that shifted certain criminal jurisdiction to states — has magnified the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people in California by producing chronic underfunding, jurisdictional confusion and lower trust between tribal communities and state or county law enforcement.

Carol Goldberg, a law professor who has researched PL 280 for decades, said PL 280 created “one of the very first unfunded federal mandates,” removing federal jurisdiction without attaching federal funding to implement it in state agencies and leaving tribes with denied federal funding for their own policing and justice systems. Goldberg told the committee this under‑resourcing produces slow or nonresponse and that perpetrators target communities perceived as having a law‑enforcement vacuum.

Chairman Joe James of the Yurok Tribe and advocates linked trafficking and exploitation to PL 280's effects. Morning Star Gali, speaking for MMIP families and survivors’ groups, said traffickers and violent offenders “deliberately target Native communities because they know that jurisdiction is fractured between state, county, and tribal authorities with no clear chain of accountability.” She called for state actions including restoration of tribal criminal jurisdiction where appropriate, substantial tribal public‑safety funding, mandatory tribal consultation, culturally grounded victim services and strengthened repatriation protections.

Anti‑trafficking practitioner Dustin Contreras said partnerships are a practical model: Kern County’s coalition work, he said, shows strong results when tribal advocates, NGOs and law enforcement form local task forces and integrate Indigenous lived‑experience experts. He emphasized prevention, prosecution and services, and the need to sustain survivors’ long‑term care after rescue.

Professor Goldberg and other witnesses proposed specific remedies: mandated and resourced PL 280 training for county and highway patrol officers; formal cross‑deputization and policing agreements (with state incentives as in other PL 280 states); making tribal peace‑officer status equivalent where possible (examples cited: Oregon policies); and the possibility of retrocession — returning jurisdiction to tribes — as an option for some tribes.

Ending: Witnesses urged the Legislature to pair any statutory fixes with recurring funding, mandatory training curricula, and mechanisms for tribal input in program design to reduce exploitation and improve investigative outcomes in MMIP cases.","Legal scholars, tribal leaders and anti‑trafficking advocates told the Assembly select committee that Public Law 280's jurisdictional shifts and chronic underfunding contribute to poor investigative outcomes and enable traffickers to target Native communities; witnesses proposed training mandates, cross‑deputization and retrocession as remedies.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_46":93,"_48":94,"_50":95,"_52":96,"_54":55,"_56":57,"_58":97,"_60":61,"_62":63,"_64":98,"_66":67,"_68":69,"_70":71,"_72":73,"_74":73},6569944,"Tribal leaders, families press California Assembly panel on missing and murdered Indigenous people",2611,3149000,5760000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3217698-0803fcb446ba713dbd75ac52ba3aa00f&start=3149&end=5760","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3217698-0803fcb446ba713dbd75ac52ba3aa00f/thumbnail_3149000.jpg","/articles/6569944/California/Tribal-leaders-families-press-California-Assembly-panel-on-missing-and-murdered-Indigenous-people","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6569944-a7b09c8768e7995240e0ba7fa2a5a495/orig.mp4?Expires=1773033607&Signature=hhuK9duNZjDbr59anG3HRe22oqK0WlqIOYJiqhfzPVGMBdbPlukVgI5pwZdN4kx5DsYBqiZ9vWwaMG~81AwAS-wSQDa83gjQIzvdfjZKYHi6BZpz2h-hEj2tUVPcTR5TkWiQxJh712CcewBhprMFpPDbXsqbn-jxwxvIWEUuhRiLgNza64wmaLRKE5e-Z4er2U6J4xsiqKhtXQHQQjPZJl7fRoEWUb6YUGMtJ06p04RQQpW-i4IPKAmae3Ik~TISJC0MHx8-RfqN-2nlQTwXPNcCfpF9I7dKiVgqHIpbOWAzOGOfBYKwuJlJdS2NSp0zQqETqrVy~jo2Rn5AAu~AZg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Assemblymember James Ramos convened the California State Assembly Select Committee on Native American Affairs for a multi-panel hearing focused on missing and murdered Indigenous people (MMIP), where tribal leaders described long-standing underresponse, named local cold cases and urged the state to increase resources and formal consultation.

Tribal leaders said decades of losses and recent cases demonstrate predictable breakdowns in response. Chairperson Antoinette Del Rio, of the California Valley Miwok community, said tribal education and public awareness remain limited: \"...people don't even know what that is and that's sad especially in our education systems,\" and called for programs to ensure names of murdered and missing tribal members are publicly recognized. Chairperson Cheyenne Stone of the Big Pine Paiute Tribe of the Owens Valley recounted historical forced removals and recent archaeological discoveries along US Highway 395 — she said excavations unearthed skeletal remains and cultural items and that assessments reported a minimum of 61 individuals and an estimated 875 individual human remains across multiple sites.

Chairperson Charles Martin of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians recounted the September 2024 disappearance and death of a tribal citizen, Amy Porter, and criticized delays in the feather alert process: the alert was issued Sept. 21, he said, nearly a week after she went missing and one day before her body was found by a family-organized search party. Martin said county law enforcement later acknowledged procedural failings and that tribes must be able to request alerts and receive timely responses without relying on ad hoc channels.

Multiple Assembly members supported the panel's calls. Assemblymember Sharon Quirk Silva said the core issue is equity in response: living on a reservation should not reduce the urgency of missing-person responses. Assemblymember Jackson emphasized the role of resources and media attention in placing value on lives and said more data is needed to reveal disparities in response and resource allocation.

Panelists and members pointed to a set of systemic problems: inconsistent reporting and data collection; underfunded tribal historical preservation offices (THPOs) that limit repatriation and burial protection; and gaps in public awareness and school-based education about MMIP. Several witnesses pressed for stronger tribal consultation in state decisions, expanded culturally appropriate victim services and permanent budget commitments to sustain tribal-led responses.

The committee said it will follow with additional panels involving law enforcement and the attorney general's office to explore evidence standards for cold cases, how far back investigations should go and what resources counties and the state can allocate. Assemblymember Ramos noted recent feather alerts issued with committee involvement but stressed that alerts alone are an early step: \"Just yesterday or Monday, there was 2 more feather alerts that went out with our office having to get involved. So that shows that there is, that knowledge, moving forward, but there still needs to be a lot more that needs to happen.\"

Ending: The committee adjourned panel one after roughly an hour of testimony and said it will continue the hearing with panels on trafficking, jurisdictional issues under Public Law 280, and the state's operational response including data and training.

","Tribal chairpersons and Assembly members testified at a California Assembly select committee hearing calling for sustained funding, better data collection, stronger tribal consultation and immediate law-enforcement response after decades of cold cases and recent failures in alert systems.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Attorney General’s office, sheriffs and advocates outline data, training and funding steps on MMIP

Experts and advocates tell Assembly Public Law 280 and underfunding magnify trafficking and MMIP crisis

Tribal leaders, families press California Assembly panel on missing and murdered Indigenous people