Peace officers: tribal police pilot project.

Plain English Breakdown

The official source does not provide specific details about how tribes will share liability and collaborate on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons cases.

Tribal Police Pilot Program

AB-31 establishes a three-year pilot program allowing selected tribal police officers to have peace officer authority in California, with requirements and funding for training, monitoring, and reporting.

What This Bill Does

• Establishes a three-year pilot project from July 2026 to July 2029 where the Department of Justice can select up to three tribal entities to employ tribal police officers as peace officers under specific conditions.
• Sets minimum qualifications and training requirements for tribal police officers participating in the program.
• Requires participating tribes to adopt laws or resolutions allowing their police officers to exercise authority and provide public access to certain records, including a limited waiver of sovereign immunity.
• Authorizes the Department of Justice to monitor and evaluate the pilot project and submit reports to the Legislature.
• Creates the Tribal Police Pilot Fund in the State Treasury to assist program participants with information technology costs for reporting requirements.

Who It Names or Affects

• Tribal police officers in California
• Selected tribal entities participating in the program
• The Department of Justice and Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training

Terms To Know

Peace officer

A person who is authorized by law to enforce laws, maintain public order, and protect people.

Limits and Unknowns

• The pilot program will only be implemented if the Legislature provides funding.
• Only three tribal entities can participate in this pilot project.
• Details about how tribes will share liability and collaborate on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons cases are not fully explained.

Official Summary Text

AB 31, as introduced, Ramos.
Peace officers: tribal police pilot project.
Existing law defines those persons who are peace officers in the state, grants certain authority to those individuals and their employing entities, and places certain requirements on those individuals and their employing entities. Existing law also grants specified limited arrest authority to certain other persons, including federal criminal investigators and park rangers and peace officers from adjoining jurisdictions.
Existing federal law authorizes tribal governments to employ tribal police for the enforcement of tribal law on tribal lands. Existing federal law requires the State of California to exercise criminal jurisdiction on Indian lands. Existing state law deems a tribal police officer who has been deputized or appointed by a county sheriff as a reserve or auxiliary deputy to be a peace officer in the State of California.
This bill would, from July 1, 2026, until July 1, 2029, establish a pilot program under the Department of Justice and the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training granting peace officer authority to certain tribal police officers on Indian lands and elsewhere in the state under specified circumstances. The bill would authorize the department to select 3 tribal entities to participate, would set certain minimum qualifications and certification and training requirements for a tribal officer to act pursuant to this authority, and would place certain requirements on the employing tribe, including a limited waiver of sovereign immunity, and the adoption of a tribal law or resolution authorizing that exercise of authority and providing for public access to certain records. The bill would require the Department of Justice to provide ongoing monitoring and evaluation and to prepare and submit reports to the Legislature, as specified.
Existing law authorizes a county to establish an interagency domestic violence death review team to assist local agencies in identifying and reviewing domestic violence deaths, including homicides and suicides, and facilitating communication among various agencies involved in domestic violence cases. Under existing law, an oral or written communication or a document provided by a third party to a domestic violence review team is confidential and not subject to disclosure or discovery.
This bill would authorize a tribe participating in this pilot program to establish a domestic violence death review team subject to the applicable provisions of this law.
This bill would also authorize participating tribes to enter into an agreement to share liability and collaborate on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons cases.
This bill would create the
Tribal Police Pilot Fund in the State Treasury to, upon appropriation by the Legislature, assist program participants with the cost of information technology necessary for complying with reporting requirements for law enforcement agencies.
This bill would provide for implementation of all of these provisions only upon an appropriation by the Legislature for these purposes.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF