§3613 Base support funding for tribal justice systems

Summary

The Secretary may, under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act and when Congress provides money, make contracts, grants, or agreements with Indian tribes to help create, improve, and run tribal courts and traditional tribal justice practices. Money from those contracts or grants can pay for planning, staff (judges, prosecutors, public defenders, court workers, and child advocates), training, law libraries and legal research tools, writing and publishing tribal laws and court rules, records systems, building or fixing court buildings, membership in professional groups, and other culturally relevant programs like alternative dispute resolution, victims services, probation or diversion programs, juvenile services, and child-abuse investigations. No later than 180 days after December 3, 1993, the Secretary must work with tribes to create and publish a formula to set base funding for tribal justice systems. The Secretary must assess caseload and staffing needs, account for geography and population, look at caseload volume and complexity, projected cases per month, projected numbers in probation or diversion, and any special circumstances. The Secretary must use tribal input, survey data under section 3612, and relevant standards from the Judicial Conference of the United States, the National Center for State Courts, the American Bar Association, and State bar associations, and must make sure funds are distributed fairly.