NCJ Number
235817
Date Published
August 2011
Length
49 pages
Annotation
This document presents an overview of the Tribal Law and Order Act enacted by Congress in 2010 to address the many challenges faced by tribal justice systems.
Abstract
The Tribal Law and Order Act (TLOA), enacted by Congress in 2010, mandates the Departments of Justice (DOJ) and the Interior (DOI) to develop a long term plan to address incarceration and alternatives to it in tribal justice systems around the country. Following consultations with tribal law enforcement officials and tribal leaders, a plan was developed and submitted to Congress. The main themes of the Tribal Justice Plan are establishing alternatives to incarceration as the major focus of the plan, implementing the plan in consultation and collaboration with tribal leaders and making it flexible enough to allow tribes to develop strategies tailored to their specific public safety needs and tribal history and culture, ensuring coordination among Federal, tribal, State, and local government resources to support operations, and greater coordination between DOJ and DOI with respect to awards for grants that may be used to construct tribal correctional facilities and multi-purpose justice centers. The consultations between DOJ, DOI, tribal leaders, and tribal law enforcement officials led to the development of 10 key considerations that should be included in the Tribal Justice Plan. This document discusses the themes and key considerations of the plan, along with the 6-month and 12-month goals of the plan outlined by the working group.