AB 31: Peace officers: tribal police.
- Session Year: 2025-2026
- House: Assembly
- Latest Version Date: 2026-06-09
Current Status:
In Progress
(2026-06-09: From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on PUB. S.)
Introduced
In Committee
First Chamber
In Committee
Second Chamber
Enacted
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,
Existing law, from July 1, 2026, until July 1, 2029, establish a pilot program establishes the Tribal Police Pilot Program under the Department of Justice and the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training granting that grants peace officer authority to certain tribal police officers on Indian lands and elsewhere in the state under specified circumstances. The bill would authorize Existing law authorizes the department to select 3 tribal entities to participate, would set federally recognized tribes to participate, sets certain minimum qualifications and certification and training requirements for a tribal officer to act pursuant to this authority, and would place places 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.
This bill would rename the pilot program to the Tribal Police Program and would extend the program indefinitely.
Existing law creates 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 rename that fund to the Tribal Police Fund.
Existing law requires the Department of Justice, upon an appropriation of funds by the Legislature, to provide technical assistance to local law enforcement agencies, as specified, and tribal governments with Indian lands, relating to tribal issues, including providing guidance for law enforcement education and training on policing and criminal investigations on Indian lands, providing guidance on improving crime reporting, crime statistics, criminal procedures, and investigative tools, and facilitating and supporting improved communication between local law enforcement agencies and tribal governments.
Existing law, the California Emergency Services Act, authorizes the use of the Emergency Alert System to inform the public of local, state, and national emergencies. Existing law defines Feather Alert as a notification system, activated as specified, designed to issue and coordinate alerts with respect to endangered indigenous people, specifically indigenous women or indigenous people, who are reported missing. Existing law authorizes a law enforcement agency or a Tribe of California to directly request the department to activate a Feather Alert if a person is reported missing to a law enforcement agency and that agency determines, as described, that specified requirements are met consistent with specified timelines. Existing law requires the department, if it concurs that specified requirements have been met, to activate a Feather Alert within the appropriate geographical area requested by the investigating law enforcement agency.
Existing law establishes a Rural Indian Crime Prevention Program to provide grants to local law enforcement agencies to provide training to officers and to provide specified services to Native American persons and communities.
This bill would require the Department of the California Highway Patrol, in coordination with the Department of Justice, to establish and administer the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Person (MMIP) Task Force to enhance statewide coordination, investigation, and response to MMIP cases, as specified. The bill would require the Department of the California Highway Patrol to prioritize the development of memoranda of understanding and other cooperative agreements with federally recognized Indian tribes and tribal law enforcement agencies. The bill would authorize the Department of the California Highway Patrol to enter into an agreement with a tribal, local, state, and federal agency to facilitate information sharing and coordination for cases involving a missing or murdered indigenous person, as specified. The bill would also authorize a tribal government, an investigating agency, and an investigating law enforcement agency to activate the task force for assistance with an MMIP case under specific circumstances.
Discussed in Hearing
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