The southern UTE indian tribe (the tribe) is a federally-recognized indian tribe located in LA plata county in southwest colorado

The Southern Ute Indian Tribe has been awarded a $830,000 Project Grant from the U.S. Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women under the Tribal Special Assistant United States Attorneys (SAUSA) Program (CFDA 16.055). This 60-month grant, awarded on October 1, 2023, will fund a partnership between the tribe and the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado. The goal is to improve the investigation and prosecution of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, sex trafficking, and stalking cases in Indian country by cross-designating a tribal prosecutor as a SAUSA. Key activities include establishing a formal memorandum of understanding, selecting and training the SAUSA, and providing resources to support their work in bridging jurisdictional gaps and enhancing coordination between tribal, federal, and state law enforcement agencies.

For this project, the tribe is partnering with the united states attorneys office for the district of colorado (usao). The tribe and usao have demonstrated a strong mutual interest in filling gaps in jurisdictional coverage; increasing communication and coordination between the tribal, federal, and state law enforcement agencies; establishing consistent relationships between federal prosecutors and the tribal community; and improving the quality of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking cases through training and best practices. Through this project, the partners will: 1) enter into a formal memorandum of understanding detailing the terms of their partnership; 2) mutually select or retain an agreed upon attorney to be cross-designated as both a sausa and a tribal prosecutor who will maintain an active tribal and federal caseload; and 3) participate in required training and technical assistance. Funds through this award will support salary and fringe benefits for the sausa position, training, travel, and other resources needed to support the work of the sausa.timing for performance of this award is 60 months.