Law enforcement officer tuition and fees waiver

N.D.C.C. § 54-12-35 — under Attorney General.

N.D.C.C. § 54-12-35

1. To the extent the annual cap under this section has not been met, an individual who is employed as a full-time law enforcement officer in this state, who has a minimum of two years of employment, and who is licensed under chapter 12-63, is entitled to a waiver of twenty-five percent of resident tuition and fees of any institution of higher education under the control of the state board of higher education if the law enforcement officer: a. Maintains satisfactory performance with the officer's law enforcement agency; b. Obtains authorization to participate in the waiver program and a certificate of verification from the law enforcement officer's superior officer which attests to the officer's satisfactory performance; c. Meets all admission requirements of the institution; and d. Pursues studies leading to a degree from an associate degree program or a baccalaureate degree program. 2. The law enforcement officer may receive the waiver for up to five years from the date the law enforcement officer first receives a waiver under this section. 3. The institution of higher education shall waive twenty-five percent of the officer's tuition and fees after subtracting awarded federal financial aid grants and state scholarships and grants for an eligible law enforcement officer during the time the officer is enrolled. To remain eligible for the waiver, the officer shall comply with all requirements of the institution for continued attendance and award of an associate degree or a baccalaureate degree. 4. The law enforcement officer shall include the certificate of verification when applying for enrollment to the institution of higher education. 5. The total amount of waivers granted each academic year by institutions under the control of the state board of higher education may not exceed five hundred thousand dollars. 6. The attorney general shall adopt the rules necessary to implement this section.

54-12-36. Missing indigenous people task force - Membership - Duties - Collection of data on missing persons - Continuing appropriation - Legislative management report. (Expired effective August 1, 2035) 1. There is created a missing indigenous people task force. The attorney general, or the attorney general's designee, shall serve as the chairman of the task force and the attorney general's office shall provide staff services for the task force. 2. The task force shall meet at least once each quarter. 3. The task force membership must include the following members: a. The superintendent of public instruction, or the superintendent's designee; b. The chief of the bureau of criminal investigation, or the chief's designee; c. The executive director of the Indian affairs commission, or the executive director's designee; d. The superintendent of the state highway patrol, or the superintendent's designee; e. A representative from each of the federally recognized Indian nations, tribes, or bands in this state, appointed by the attorney general from a list of two or more nominees from the chairman of each tribe; f. Two members of the house of representatives, one appointed by the majority leader of the house of representatives and one appointed by the minority leader of the house of representatives; and g. Two members of the senate, one appointed by the majority leader of the senate and one appointed by the minority leader of the senate. 4. While respecting the government-to-government relationship between the state and each tribe, the primary duties of the task force are to:

a. Identify jurisdictional barriers between federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and community agencies; b. Identify causes that contribute to missing and murdered indigenous people and make recommendations to federally recognized tribes in the state to reduce cases of missing and murdered indigenous people; c. Identify strategies to improve interagency communication, cooperation, and collaboration to remove jurisdictional barriers and increase reporting and investigation of missing indigenous people; d. Administer the missing indigenous people grant fund; and e. Consult with the United States department of justice office of tribal justice to invite a federal liaison or representative for consultation on the federal Savanna's Act [Pub. L. 116-165; 134 Stat. 760; 25 U.S.C. 5701 et seq.]. 5. The task force shall submit a report of its activities, findings, and any recommendations to the legislative management by August first of each year. The report must include: a. The number of indigenous individuals reported missing in the missing person repository; b. The number of indigenous individuals recovered as a result of the missing person repository; c. The number of indigenous individuals recovered as a result of the missing indigenous people grant fund; d. The number of missing indigenous individuals searched for and recovered; e. The number of missing indigenous individuals entries into the missing person repository by year; f. An analysis by year of the characteristics of missing indigenous people, including age, gender, child protective services involvement status, foster case status, duration of time missing, and estimated related cause; g. The number of actively missing indigenous people by year; h. A description of the activities and progress related to improving interagency communication, cooperation, and collaboration and removing interjurisdictional barriers; and i. Any other information the task force finds relevant to the task force's mission. 6. The task force may make recommendations to federal, state, and local agencies in carrying out the task force's duties. 7. Money in the missing indigenous people grant fund is appropriated on a continuing basis to the task force for the purpose of supporting the efforts of a federally recognized Indian nation, tribe, or band in this state, to identify, report, and find missing indigenous people. The director of the office of management and budget shall transfer any funds remaining in the missing indigenous people grant fund after July 31, 2035, to the general fund. 8. The attorney general shall implement a missing person repository for authorized users to enter missing person information in accordance with rules established by the bureau of criminal investigation. Missing person information, including demographic data related to indigenous people, which is entered by an authorized user or made available to an authorized user by a federally recognized tribe in this state must be included in the repository. Records under this subsection are exempt records that may be disclosed only in accordance with bureau of criminal investigation rules.