Purpose area 3

The Pueblo of Acoma Tribal Court will receive $900,000 under a five-year Project Grant from the Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Assistance. The grant funds the Tribal Justice System Infrastructure Program for Indian Tribes (CFDA 16.596), which aims to strengthen tribal justice system capacity through addressing physical infrastructure needs.

Specifically, the Tribal Court will restore pretrial and prosecution diversion programs impacted by COVID-19 with the help of a legal assistant. A probation officer will address a backlog of domestic violence cases while developing new supervision strategies. Court clerks will create a schedule to reduce case backlogs in various subject areas. All staff will track data and the Court Administrator will submit regular reports to BJA. The funding will also maintain stable salaries and benefits for a probation officer, two court clerks, and a legal assistant through September 2027.

Abstract

Purpose area 3: with the BJA funding, the acoma tribal court (ATC) will conduct the following: 1) the legal assistant will work to restore the pretrial and prosecution diversion and sentencing alternatives impacted by covid-19 court closures, prolonged telework mandates, and the transition to virtual services. 2) probation services will address the backlog of domestic violence cases from 2020 while researching and developing probation supervision strategies. Restore service levels for healing to wellness court participants. 3) the court clerks will create a court schedule to address the case backlog caused by covid-19 restrictions for all the affected subject matters areas. The tribal court clerks, probation officer, and legal assistant will use excel logs for data collection and reporting. The court administrator will prepare and submit quarterly and semi-annual reports online to BJA. Federally recognized tribe the pueblo of acoma is a federally recognized tribe located in cibola county, NM. With this funding, the acoma public safety department will implement the following goals: during each project year, restore pre-covid-19 service levels for pretrial services and sentencing alternatives through culturally relevant screening, intakes, and presentence reports. Each project year, increase probation supervision strategies for individuals on probation for domestic violence offenses. During each project year, restore pre-covid-19 court service levels and court operations impacted by the pandemic and maintain stable salaries and benefits for one probation officer, two court clerks, and one legal assistant. Additional question for applicants in multiple purpose areas purpose area 3 - BJA funding does not affect the implementation of PA 1.