Montana’s Missing Persons Task Force has not met since last summer despite the Legislature funding the group for the next decade.
State lawmakers last year passed two bills carried by Montana’s American Indian Caucus to help missing and murdered people in Montana. But the DOJ did not hire a coordinator for the task force until this month, and has not spent any of the funding allocated for training local search and rescue groups.
According to 2023 state data, Indigenous people make up nearly 7 % of the population and make up a quarter of Montana’s missing persons cases.
In a statement to MTPR, a spokesperson for the DOJ said they are in the process of appointing members to the missing persons task force, now that they have hired a coordinator and are reaching out to tribes about getting representatives. MTPR has confirmed several tribes are in the nomination process.
An interim group of lawmakers is scheduled to hear updates on this legislation this week.
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The U.S. Supreme Court v. Cooley decision earlier this month upheld the practice of detaining non-Native suspects on tribal roadways. The practice of detaining non-Natives until the authorities arrive from neighboring districts is common practice on many reservations throughout the US.
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The crisis of violence against Indigenous women and girls is being recognized in ceremonies in Montana and around the nation this week. Family members and…
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Nearly 30 Indigenous advocacy groups are condemning the work of a presidential task force on missing and murdered Indigenous person cases.
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Amid Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women’s awareness week, we’re going to hear from the host of the new podcast called Stolen: The Search For Jermain, which follows the story of Jermain Charlo, a 23-year old member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes who went missing in Missoula in June 2018.
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The third bill in a package meant to address the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons crisis in Montana was signed into law Thursday.
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Gov. Greg Gianforte signed several bills into law this week, including policies to end same-day voting registration and change voter ID requirements;…