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Lawmakers weigh task force, data system and funding to address missing and murdered Indigenous people
Summary
House Bill 1199, proposing a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons task force and centralized data, drew broad support in committee hearings and neutral technical comment from the attorney general’s office; witnesses and tribal leaders urged action and the bill includes a $250,000 tribal-support provision for the next biennium.
Lawmakers heard extensive testimony on House Bill 11 99 proposing a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) task force, a centralized data system and measures to improve interagency coordination for cases involving Indigenous people in North Dakota.
Representative Dawson Holly (sometimes recorded as Dawson Hawley in the hearing) introduced the bill and said the task force would create a unified data repository, improve cross-jurisdictional collaboration and include Indigenous leaders in policy design. "The first step in solving any problem is to understand it," he said, describing the bill’s centralized data component and calls for culturally informed investigations.
Multiple witnesses described the problem as severe and urgent. Representative Davis recounted a recent search in Turtle Mountain that she said required bringing additional state resources and coordination; she reported that, as of that…
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