Lawmakers hear emotional testimony for missing Indigenous persons task force bill

Lawmakers heard extensive testimony March 12 on House Bill 11‑99, a bill to establish a Missing Indigenous Persons task force in North Dakota. Supporters — including tribal leaders, legislators from Native districts, family members, and law‑enforcement officials — described the measure as a coordinated response to a longstanding crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people (MMIP) in the state.

Representative Dawson Holly (District 31), sponsor of HB11‑99, said Indigenous communities are disproportionately affected by disappearance and violence and that other states (South Dakota, Montana and Minnesota) have created similar task forces. “Indigenous communities in North Dakota are just proportionally impacted by violence and disappearance,” Holly said, pointing to national reporting and Centers for Disease Control statistics cited in testimony.

Multiple tribal leaders and family members described recent cases in their communities and urged immediate action. Representative Jamie Davis (District 9) and Turtle Mountain Band Chairman Jamie Azure described a search in remote country where weak cell and data coverage hindered search-and-rescue coordination; Davis urged adding tribe-specific representation and an executive director from the Indian Affairs Commission in an amendment she circulated. Spirit Lake Nation Chairwoman Lana Street recounted delays in federal response in two recent local disappearances and urged creation of a tribal emergency-alert system (sometimes referred to in testimony as a “feather alert”), better funding for tribal law enforcement, memoranda of understanding to allow state agencies to step in quickly during a crisis, and culturally appropriate victim services.

Standing Rock and other tribal witnesses described grassroots search efforts, the role of volunteer groups and the limits of existing federal responses. Tanya Hertel and Alva Cottonwood Gabe recounted family experiences with missing relatives and the difficulty of continuity in investigations when jurisdiction changes among city, county and federal agencies.

Law-enforcement testimony from Lonnie Grabowska, director of the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation, outlined existing tools that can be used in coordination with a task force: a statewide missing‑persons database linked to the National Crime Information Center, Savanna’s Act coordination activities with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and special law-enforcement commission (SLEC) arrangements that allow state agents to work in tribal areas. Grabowska said improved, regular communication and clearly defined roles would help implementation.

Representative Holly said the bill contains a fiscal appropriation of $250,000 for the initial biennium; several witnesses said the measure should be coupled with systems to enable quicker alerts and interagency data sharing. No vote was taken; the sponsor and members agreed to draft targeted amendments to add tribal representation and clarify the chairing and succession provisions.