House Status:
Senate Status:
Senate Status:
Minutes for HB2008 - Committee on Judiciary
Short Title
Providing for the attorney general to coordinate training for law enforcement agencies on missing and murdered indigenous people.
Minutes Content for Tue, Jan 19, 2021
Chairperson Patton opened the hearing on HB2008. Natalie Scott provided an overview of the bill. (Attachment 1) Ms. Scott answered questions regarding the bill, HB2008.
Chairperson Patton asked the membership to hold questions until all proponents had finished speaking.
Representative Dr. Ponka-we Victors (Attachment 2) stated HB2008 works to coordinate training between the Kansas tribes, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, Kansas law enforcement, and other state agencies regarding missing and murdered indigenous persons in Kansas. Native American women are missing and being murdered at high rates across the country. In 2019, lawmakers in 14 states introduced 30 measures about the under reporting and data collection problems that demonstrate the difficulty in solving the murder cases of missing and indigenous women. Of the 30 measures of legislation that were introduced last year, 17 were enacted. Therefore, she strongly feels this bill will be a step in the right direction for Kansas. Dr. Ponka-we asked for the committee's support of bill HB2008.
Representative Christina Haswood (Attachment 3) testified in support of HB2008. Representative Haswood provided numerous statistics demonstrating the need for such legislation and stated Kansas legislature has yet to pass a bill to address this issue. This would be the first step to address Murdered and Missing Indigenous People with a coordinated effort in Kansas. She believes we all have the opportunity to do that this session and believes the solution will require all levels of government to come together to implement programs and solutions.
Chairperson Patton asked the membership to refer to the written proponent testimony that has been sent to them and was also available of the Kansas Legislature website on the House Judiciary Committee page.
Questions to the proponents who testified were asked and addressed.
Written Proponent
- Derek Schmidt, Attorney General, State of Kansas (Attachment 4)
- Sara Rust-Martin, KS Coalition Against Sexual & Domestic Violence (Attachment 5)
- Brad Smoot, Legislative Counsel, Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation (Attachment 6)
- Alexandra Holder, Community Activist and University Student (Attachment 7)
- William Wilkinson, President Student Government Association, Haskell Indian Nations University (Attachment 8)
Robert Jacobs (Attachment 9) provided neutral testimony for HB2008. Mr Jacobs reviewed the statistical date that the Kansas Bureau of Investigation had since 1984. 1984 was when the Kansas Legislature authorized the creation of the Missing Persons Clearinghouse. He cover demographic information along with missing persons data. It is all listed in his attachment.
Mr Jacobs stood for questions.
Chairperson Patton closed the hearing on HB2008.
