The pueblo of acoma (POA) is a federally recognized tribe in cibola county, new mexico

This $900,000 Project Grant award from the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance (CFDA 16.596 Tribal Justice Assistance) supports the Pueblo of Acoma Tribal Court (ATC) in New Mexico. The funding will be used to: 1) Increase response to citizens' court service requests, process traffic citations, and collect court-ordered fines and fees; 2) Incorporate holistic public defense strategies to increase defendants' understanding of rights and access to services, and decrease collateral consequences; and 3) Design a jail reentry plan to address recidivism and substance abuse. This award, spanning October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2029, aims to strengthen the tribal justice system's capacity by enhancing court operations, public defense, and reentry programs for the Pueblo of Acoma community.

The acoma tribal court (ATC) preserves the tranquility of the pueblo. IT administers justice by applying the POA's written and common laws, providing equal justice under the law through due process, and protecting acoma traditions and sovereignty. The ATC's primary purposes are to fairly and efficiently resolve all cases filed following the POA tribal code, due process, equal protection, applicable federal law, and acoma common law tradition. The ATC is a court of general jurisdiction over civil and criminal matters whose jurisdiction operates to the limits allowed under federal law, consistent with POA traditions and laws. With tribal justice system funding, the ATC will serve POA citizens of all ages and genders through the following goals: during each project year, increase response to citizens' court service requests, process traffic citations, and collect court-ordered fines and fees; during each project year, increase holistic public defense strategies to increase defendants' understanding of their rights and access to services and decrease collateral consequences through education and expanded defense support; and design a POA jail reentry plan to increase options for addressing recidivism and connection to resources to reduce relapse into criminal behavior and substance abuse. Tribal justice system funding will focus efforts on increasing court clerk and office support; incorporating holistic public defense; and a jail reentry initiative that involves analysis of justice data to develop a POA reentry plan addressing recidivism. This funding will improve several vital services for processing traffic cases regularly to reduce the backlog of cases and allow the collection of traffic fines. IT will support holistic public defense and the design of a structured reentry program.