The state of Alaska doesn't want Alaska Native villages and tribes included in S.797, the Tribal Law and Order Act.

Rick Svobodny, the state's deputy attorney general, said the bill will allow Alaska tribes to exert criminal jurisdiction. If enacted, it "may lead to serious, unintended consequences, and could potentially lead to years of unnecessary litigation," he said in a letter that he signed when he was acting as the state's attorney general.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) is a co-sponsor of the bill. She has called for more law enforcement in villages and for more resources to address violence against Native women.

The Senate Indian Affairs Committee held a hearing on the bill on June 25.

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