The colorado river indian tribes (the tribe) is a federally-recognized indian tribe located in western arizona in LA PAZ and california counties

This $830,000 Project Grant award 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) supports a partnership between the Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRIT) and the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona. The key activities funded through this 60-month award include:

1. Establishing a formal Memorandum of Understanding to detail the terms of the CRIT-USAO partnership;
2. Selecting or retaining a cross-designated attorney to serve as both a Tribal SAUSA and a tribal prosecutor, maintaining active caseloads in both the federal and tribal justice systems; and
3. Providing required training and technical assistance to support the Tribal SAUSA's work.

This initiative aims to fill jurisdictional gaps, increase communication and coordination between tribal, federal, and state law enforcement, build stronger relationships between federal prosecutors and the tribal community, and improve the quality of investigations and prosecutions for cases related to sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking in Indian country.

For this project, the tribe is partnering with the united states attorneys office for the district of arizona (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.