Tribal Criminal Jurisdiction Over Non-Indians:
Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2022
Covered Crimes
VAWA 2022 builds on VAWA 2013’s Tribal jurisdiction provision (covering domestic violence, dating violence, and protection order violations) by incorporating additional categories of criminal conduct that can be prosecuted by Tribes against non-Indians including sexual violence, stalking, sex trafficking, child violence, obstruction of justice, and assault against Tribal justice personnel. Collectively these nine categories of conduct are referred to as “covered crimes”. As amended by VAWA 2022, 25 U.S.C. § 1304 allows Tribes that meet the statutory requirements to prosecute non-Indians for nine categories of conduct:
These categories of conduct are all defined by federal law but defer to “the criminal law of the Indian tribe that has jurisdiction over the Indian country where the violation occurs” for the specific charges (except for sex trafficking, which defers to the federal sex trafficking law). The statute also requires that the victim be Indian, except if the crime involved obstruction of justice or assault of Tribal justice personnel.
Covered Crimes Facilitated Discussion Series
This series was presented by the Tribal Law and Policy Institute (TLPI) in collaboration with the Alliance of Tribal Coalitions To End Violence (ATCEV) and the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI). Each facilitated discussion included an examination of the basics for each specific covered crime, definitions, limitations or special considerations, code revision considerations, resources available for the specific covered crime, victim rights and safety issues, additional programs or agencies that need to be involved in the planning discussions concerning specific covered crimes, training needs for specific programs or agencies, challenges, and helpful resources that could be developed.
Please note that no Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) funds were used to plan or host these facilitated discussions.
