The Justice Department announced Friday the launch of a pilot program under the 2022 Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) that will allow Alaska Native Tribes to seek to exercise special Tribal criminal jurisdiction (STCJ) over non-Indian offenders for certain crimes, including crimes of sexual and domestic violence. The Department’s implementation plan for the Alaska Pilot Program provides opportunities for Alaska Native communities to access technical assistance and other resources to help build the capacity of their criminal justice systems and strengthen public safety.
“The launch of this pilot program marks an important step forward in the Justice Department’s public safety partnership with Alaska Native communities,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The program was developed in close consultation with Alaska Native Tribes and Tribal organizations and represents our continued commitment to helping Tribal communities meet the most urgent public safety challenges they are facing. I discussed the implementation plan with Tribal representatives when I visited Alaska in August, and I look forward to continuing to work with Tribal partners to help the Alaska Pilot Program succeed.”
“Last year, at the first Violence Against Women Tribal Consultation in Alaska, the Department of Justice heard from Alaska Native leaders about how to best make their communities safer,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco. “We listened. The launch of this pilot program honors the Department’s commitment to working with Alaska Native communities to extend the benefits and promise of VAWA throughout the entire state of Alaska.”
“This week, I met with advocates, law enforcement, and care providers in Anchorage and Nome to discuss the acute crisis of sexual and domestic violence in rural Alaskan communities,” said Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta, who announced the Pilot Program’s launch in remarks to the Alaska Federation of Natives today in Anchorage. “VAWA 2022 is an important step forward in ensuring Tribes can keep their communities safe from those offenses. As I said today at the Alaska Federation of Natives annual convention, we hope that all Tribes will consider participating in this important program.”
The Violence Against Women reauthorization Act of 2013 (VAWA 2013) included a historic provision – originally proposed by the Justice Department – that recognized the inherent authority of Tribes to exercise criminal jurisdiction over non-Indian offenders who commit domestic-violence-related crimes in Indian country. Tribes in Alaska, however, were generally unable to exercise special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction because there is so little Indian country in Alaska.
In the VAWA 2022 Reauthorization, Congress expanded this criminal jurisdiction over non-Indian offenders to extend to crimes of sexual violence, sex trafficking, stalking, child violence, obstruction of justice, and assault of Tribal justice personnel in Indian country.
VAWA 2022 also includes provisions specific to Tribes in Alaska. The first recognizes the inherent authority of Tribes in Alaska Native villages to exercise criminal and civil jurisdiction over all Indians present in the Village. And the second establishes a pilot program to enable Alaska Tribes designated by the Attorney General as “participating Tribes” to exercise special Tribal criminal jurisdiction over non-Indian offenders who commit covered crimes in their Villages. The statute gives preference to Tribes occupying villages with predominantly Indian populations and that do not have a permanent state law enforcement physical presence.
VAWA 2022 mandated that the Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior and affected Tribes, establish a process to designate Tribes to participate in the pilot program. The process must include a determination by the Attorney General that the criminal justice system of the requesting Tribe has adequate safeguards in place to protect defendants’ rights.
In June 2022, the Justice Department convened an intradepartmental Alaska Pilot Program Working Group. Tribal consultations, which included representatives from the Department of Interior, began in July 2022. Based on feedback received during those consultations, the working group formulated a three-track process for the Pilot Program that meets the requirements set forth in VAWA 2022 and provides Tribes with requested support.
Under Track One, all Alaska Tribes are invited to join an Alaska-specific Inter-Tribal Technical Assistance Working Group (ITWG) on special Tribal criminal jurisdiction to receive technical assistance and peer-to-peer support. This Alaska-specific ITWG will be supported by an Office on Violence Against Women technical assistance award to the Alaska Native Justice Center and its partners.
Under Track Two, any Alaska Tribe may opt to become a Preliminary Pilot Program Tribe by completing a questionnaire to assess their readiness to exercise special Tribal criminal jurisdiction and identify any gaps in meeting the statutory requirements for exercising special Tribal criminal jurisdiction. Each Tribe that completes a questionnaire will be assigned a federal liaison, who will work alongside the Alaska Technical Assistance Provider to assist the Tribe in addressing unmet requirements and further building their criminal justice system capacity.
Under Track Three, an Alaska Tribe may seek Attorney General designation as a Participating Pilot Program Tribe by completing the same questionnaire used for Track Two. Department staff who review the questionnaire will either recommend Attorney General designation or invite the Tribe to participate (or continue to participate) in readiness activities under Track Two.
This framework will permit any Tribe in Alaska to take part in the Pilot Program, without requiring any commitment to ultimately seek Attorney General designation. Importantly, it provides a mechanism for Alaska Tribes to receive federal guidance and technical assistance to develop their criminal justice capacity.
Alaska Tribes interested in participating in the pilot program may contact the Department by email at VAWAAlaskaPilot@usdoj.gov.
More information about the Justice Department’s work in American Indian and Alaska Native communities is available at www.justice.gov/tribal.
