Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-New Mexico) met with tribes in New Mexico on Thursday to discuss the Tribal Law and Order Act.

Tribal officials praised the new law but said it would impose new requirements on their governments without providing additional funding. They said it would require additional resources for tribal court sentencing, for dealing with offenders, for training tribal officers and for enhanced cooperation with federal authorities.

"We see it as an unfunded mandate," Rosa Maria Cortez, a senior attorney with the Navajo Nation Public Defender's Office, said at the meeting, The Farmington Daily Times.

The law authorizes the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Department of Justice to spend money on law enforcement in Indian Country and to make grants to tribes.

Get the Story:
Officials question new tribal law (The Farmington Daily Times 8/27)

Indian Arts and Crafts Amendments Act:
H.R.725

Tribal Law and Order Act:
S.797 | H.R.1924

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