Central South Dakota News

U.S. Senators Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) have spearheaded a bipartisan effort, joined by 10 Senate colleagues, to request increased funding for tribal law enforcement programs in the FY2025 Appropriations bill. The senators addressed their letter to Senators Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who serve as chairman and ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies.

The senators stated in their letter, “As you consider funding priorities in the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025, we ask that you support robust funding for Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Public Safety and Justice Law Enforcement programs.” They acknowledged past support for tribal law enforcement and expressed hope that these programs would be prioritized.

They continued by highlighting the challenges faced by tribal law enforcement agencies. "Tribal law enforcement agencies have been under-resourced and under-staffed for decades and they are now being asked to face a new, dangerous threat posed by these cartels and criminal organizations," they wrote. They further mentioned that several tribal leaders have requested emergency resources from the federal government to address manpower issues.

Senators John Thune (R-S.D.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) also signed the letter.

In April 2024, Senator Rounds had proposed opening a tribal law enforcement training center in South Dakota to tackle officer recruitment and retention issues on reservations. In March 2024, Senators Rounds and Thune requested a Government Accountability Office inquiry into tribal law enforcement funding. In December 2023, Senators Rounds, Thune and Congressman Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) wrote to Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, urging her to address the public safety crisis on South Dakota reservations. A similar request was made in June 2023.