Tribal court and law enforcement staff in 2013. Photo from Pascua Yaqui Bar Association

The Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona has so far prosecuted 19 non-Indians for domestic violence crimes on the reservation.

Of the 19 cases, 18 involved children in the home, Attorney General Fred Urbina said. But the tribal jurisdiction provisions of the Violence Against Women Act do not extend to those crimes.

"Some of them were assaulted," Urbina told Fronteras. "A lot of times it was the children that were calling to report these domestic violence incidents.”

The Yaquis were among the first three tribes to comply with the provisions of S.47, the 2013 law that reauthorized VAWA. The law recognizes the "inherent power" of tribes to arrest, prosecute and punish non-Indians for certain domestic violence offenses.

Get the Story:
Native Americans Can Prosecute Non-Natives In Tribal Court (Fronteras 3/16)

Related Stories:
LTBB News: Little Traverse Bay Bands to exercise VAWA power (3/19)
Eastern Cherokees make changes to exercise VAWA authority (3/18)
Tribes in Montana still looking at jurisdiction provisions in VAWA (3/13)
Fort Peck Tribes ready to exercise VAWA power over non-Indians (3/12)
White House Blog: Tribes make communities safer with VAWA (3/11)
Tribes in pilot project filed 26 VAWA cases against non-Indians (3/10)
Tribes reach key milestone with jurisdiction provisions of VAWA (3/9)
Updates from National Congress of American Indians winter session (2/26)
Tribes in Maine face opposition to jurisdiction over non-Indians (02/24)
Bill requires law degree to join Navajo Nation Supreme Court (02/03)
Obama signs measure to extend VAWA tribal provision to Alaska (12/19)
VAWA jurisdiction provision poses special issue for Alaska tribes (12/15)
Congress clears bill to extend VAWA tribal provisions to Alaska (12/12)
Senate backs measure to extend VAWA tribal provisions to Alaska (12/09)
Vice President Biden calls for inclusion of Alaska tribes in VAWA (12/04)
PBS: VAWA helps tribes go after non-Indian domestic offenders (11/24)
Republicans hold up action on Alaska tribal jurisdiction measure (11/19)
Eric Holder: Responding to sexual violence in Indian Country (11/18)
DOJ task force calls for tribal jurisdiction in child abuse cases (11/18)