Missing and Murdered American Indian and Alaskan Native Women and Girls - Day of Awareness and Reporting Requirement

EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MATTER ADDED TO EXISTING LAW.
[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
*hb0588*

HOUSE BILL 588
P1 6lr2476

By: Delegates Hill, Acevero, Feldmark, Fennell, Guzzone, Lehman, Moreno,
Smith, Watson, and Wu
Introduced and read first time: January 28, 2026
Assigned to: Government, Labor, and Elections

A BILL ENTITLED

AN ACT concerning 1

Missing and Murdered American Indian and Alaskan Native Women and Girls – 2
Day of Awareness and Reporting Requirement 3

FOR the purpose of requiring the Governor to annually proclaim a certain day as Missing 4
and Murdered American Indian and Alaskan Native Women and Girls Awareness 5
Day; requiring the Department of State Police to report to the General Assembly on 6
certain information by a certa in date; and generally relating to Missing and 7
Murdered American Indian and Alaskan Native Women and Girls Awareness Day. 8

BY renumbering 9
Article – General Provisions 10
Section 7–410 through 7–421 11
to be Section 7–411 through 7–422, respectively 12
Annotated Code of Maryland 13
(2019 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 14

BY adding to 15
Article – General Provisions 16
Section 7–410 17
Annotated Code of Maryland 18
(2019 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 19

Preamble 20

WHEREAS, More than four in five American Indian and Alaskan Native women 21
have experienced violence, and more than one in two have experienced sexual violence; and 22

WHEREAS, According to the National Congress of American Indians, American 23
Indian and Alaskan Native women and girls experience rates of violence up to 10 times 24
2 HOUSE BILL 588

greater than the national average, and are less likely, compared to other racial groups, to 1
receive needed services when victims of violence; and 2

WHEREAS, American Indian and Alaskan Native women and girls experience 3
violence perpetrated by, most commonly, non –American Indian and non –Alaskan Native 4
individuals, which contrasts with other groups where the majority of violence is committed 5
against members of the same race; and 6

WHEREAS, There continues to be specific failures in reporting and prosecutions for 7
violence against American Indian and Alaskan Native women and girls at the federal, state, 8
and local level; and 9

WHEREAS, According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Crime 10
Information Center, the number of reported cases of missing American Indian and Alaskan 11
Native women and girls has gradually increased from 5,203 in 2021 to 5,487 in 2024; and 12

WHEREAS, The data available from official resources is widely considered to be 13
undercounted due to kno wn issues with data collection, racial misidentification, and 14
jurisdictional complexities; and 15

WHEREAS, The 2020 Census counts approximately 2% of the population of this 16
State, or over 120,000 individuals, identify as American Indian and Alaskan Native; and 17

WHEREAS, The State must stand in solidarity with the victims and survivors of 18
violence, raise public awareness, and improve reporting mechanisms to address the crisis 19
of violence against American Indian and Alaskan Native women and girls that persists in 20
the State, country, and continent; now, therefore, 21

SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 22
That Section(s) 7–410 through 7–421 of Article – General Provisions of the Annotated Code 23
of Maryland be renumbered to be Section(s) 7–411 through 7–422, respectively. 24

SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That the Laws of Maryland read 25
as follows: 26

Article – General Provisions 27

7–410. 28

THE GOVERNOR ANNUALLY SHALL PROCLAIM MAY 5 AS MISSING AND 29
MURDERED AMERICAN INDIAN AND ALASKAN NATIVE WOMEN AND GIRLS 30
AWARENESS DAY. 31

SECTION 3. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That , on or before December 1, 32
2026, the Department of State Police shall report to the General Assembly, in accordance 33
with § 2–1257 of the State Government Article, on: 34

HOUSE BILL 588 3

(1) whether State and local law enforcement agencies are sufficiently 1
collecting data on violence against American Indian and Alaskan Native individuals in the 2
State; and 3

(2) any policy recommendations for: 4

(i) improving data collection methods for tracking and monitoring 5
incidents of violence against American Indian and Alaskan Native individuals in the State; 6

(ii) improving coordination with federal law enforcement agencies 7
during investigations into incidents of violence against American India n and Alaskan 8
Native individuals in the State; and 9

(iii) raising public awareness of violence experienced by American 10
Indian and Alaskan Native individuals, particularly women and girls. 11

SECTION 4. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect July 12
1, 2026. 13