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House approves task force and funding to address murdered and missing Indigenous people
Summary
The House approved House Bill 11‑99 to create a murdered and missing Indigenous persons (MMIP) task force and provide grants to support tribal reporting and case work; the bill passed with funding included in the floor action.
House Bill 11‑99, creating a murdered and missing Indigenous persons (MMIP) task force and providing funds for tribal grants and reporting, passed the North Dakota House with a final vote reported as 73 yea, 12 nay.
The bill, carried by Representative Brown and reported out of Government and Veteran Affairs with a favorable recommendation, would create an MMIP task force chaired by the Attorney General and include state and tribal representatives: the superintendent of public instruction, the bureau of criminal investigation chief, the executive director of the Indian Affairs Commission, the superintendent of highway patrol and one representative from each federally recognized tribe in the state (appointed by the Attorney General from tribal nominees). The task force is to meet quarterly or as needed.
The bill included a funding component: the floor record cites an appropriation of $250,000 for the next biennium to provide grants supporting tribal efforts to identify, report and locate missing Indigenous people. Representative Brown cited national statistics and CDC data and urged passage as a tool to improve trust, coordination and case resolution.
Opponents raised duplication concerns with the federal Savanna’s Act and objected to placing certain non‑criminal justice members on the statewide criminal justice information sharing (CJIS) board; those points were made on the floor but did not prevent passage. Representative Heinert cited potential overlap with the Savanna’s Act and raised CJIS governance concerns.
Why this matters: Supporters framed the bill as a targeted response to a severe and longstanding justice and public‑safety issue affecting tribal communities; funding aims to help tribes and law enforcement move cases forward and improve reporting and coordination.
What happens next: The bill passed the House with funding attached and will be forwarded to the Senate for consideration. The House record shows the task force membership and appropriation amount but no implementation timetable beyond quarterly meetings called by the Attorney General's office.
Ending: Passage marks a legislative step to formalize state‑tribal coordination on MMIP; committee and floor records show both support for action and caution about overlap with federal efforts.
