OVW FY 2019 Grants to Tribal Governments to Exercise Special Domestic Violence Criminal Jurisdiction Solicitation

**This opportunity is expressly for Native American tribal governments. If your office is not part of a federally recongnized tribal govenment but has a strong relationship with one there may be an opportunity to partner with that government for the purposes of this grant.**

Through this grant program, Indian tribes receive support and technical assistance for planning and implementing changes in their criminal justice systems necessary to exercise special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction (SDVCJ) and funds to exercise the jurisdiction. The program encourages collaborations among tribal leadership, courts, prosecutors, attorneys, defenders, law enforcement, probation, victim services providers, and other partners to ensure that victims find safety and justice and that non-Indians who commit crimes of domestic violence, dating violence, and violations of protection orders in the Indian country of the tribe are held accountable.

This program is authorized by the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968, as amended, 25 U.S.C. § 1304(f). Through this grant program, Indian tribes receive support and technical assistance for planning and implementing changes in their criminal justice systems necessary to exercise special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction (SDVCJ) and funds to exercise the jurisdiction. The program encourages collaborations among tribal leadership, courts, prosecutors, attorneys, defenders, law enforcement, probation, victim services providers, and other partners to ensure that victims find safety and justice and that non-Indians who commit crimes of domestic violence, dating violence, and violations of protection orders in the Indian Country of the tribe are held accountable.

Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. § 1304(f), funds under this program must be used for one or more of the following purposes:

1. to strengthen tribal criminal justice systems to assist Indian tribes in exercising SDVCJ, including:

A. law enforcement (including the capacity of law enforcement or court personnel to enter information into and obtain information from national crime information databases);

B. prosecution;

C. trial and appellate courts;

D. probation systems;

E. detention and correctional facilities; 

F. alternative rehabilitation centers;

G. culturally appropriate services and assistance for victims and their families; and

H. criminal codes and rules of criminal procedure, appellate procedure, and evidence;

2. to provide indigent criminal defendants with the effective assistance of licensed defense counsel, at no cost to the defendant, in criminal proceedings in which a participating tribe prosecutes a crime of domestic violence or dating violence or a criminal violation of a protection order;

3. to ensure that, in criminal proceedings in which a participating tribe exercises SDVCJ, jurors are summoned, selected, and instructed in a manner consistent with all applicable requirements; and

4. to accord victims of domestic violence, dating violence, and violations of protection orders rights that are similar to the rights of a crime victim described in section 3771(a) of Title 18, consistent with tribal law and custom.