Senate bill would extend tribal court jurisdiction in Alaska

ANCHORAGE (AP) — A provision of a U.S. Senate bill would expand tribal court jurisdiction for up to 30 Alaska tribes as part of a pilot program aimed at addressing high rates of domestic or sexual violence.

Tribes that choose to participate in the pilot program — and are selected — would be able to try and sentence anyone who commits domestic violence, rape or related crimes in their villages, even if the offender is non-Native.

The provision added by Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski is part of a bipartisan measure that would renew the 1994 Violence Against Women Act. The law lapsed in 2018.

A bipartisan group of senators on Feb. 9 announced that they had reached an agreement on the measure after months of negotiations in the chamber, though the bill still requires Senate and House approval. The legislation offers resources for victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence.

The last time the act was renewed, it allowed for tribes in the Lower 48 to prosecute domestic violence cases on their reservations, regardless of defendants’ race or tribal membership.

More than two dozen tribes exercise those powers, with the U.S. Justice Department providing grants and technical assistance.

Murkowski said the change the compromise measure would make in Alaska is limited. “It is just a recognition that in order to provide for a level of safety in our communities, we had to look to some alternatives,” she said.

Tribes across Alaska have courts that decide child protection, adoption cases, bootlegging and other cases, but their power over non-members is limited. Just one of Alaska’s 229 tribes is on a reserve — the community of Metlakatla, on Annette Island.

The Senate reauthorization would leave it up to the Justice Department to decide if a tribe meets eligibility criteria for the pilot program.

A renewal bill with a similar Alaska-focused provision added by U.S. Rep. Don Young passed the House last year.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy said his staff was reviewing the bills. “We’re going to make sure that everybody’s constitutional rights are protected,” he said.

“At the same time,” the governor said, “we’re determined to work with any and all groups in the state of Alaska — to protect victims, to protect individual Alaskans, regardless of whether in urban Alaska, rural Alaska, Native, non-Native, and tribal, non tribal.”