Tribal Registry

The Department of Justice Offices Boards and Divisions administers the Tribal Registry program (CFDA 16.019) to develop and maintain a national tribal sex offender registry and a tribal protection order registry containing civil and criminal orders of protection issued by Indian tribes and participating jurisdictions. The most recent grant opportunity on record is from October 2012—OVW FY 2013 National Tribal Protection Order Registry Initiative (Solicitation OVW-2013-3390), due December 18, 2012—indicating that this program has not posted a competitive solicitation in the past thirteen years.

The program funds the creation and operation of interconnected registries that enable Indian tribal governments to access and share timely, accurate data on individuals subject to criminal or civil protection orders issued by tribal courts, and to coordinate information with other tribal jurisdictions and non-tribal law enforcement agencies. The initiative derives authority from Title IX of the Violence Against Women Act of 2005 (VAWA 2005), specifically Section 905, which directs the Attorney General to contract with interested Indian tribes, tribal organizations, and tribal nonprofit organizations to develop and maintain the registries. The stated goal is to help protect Indian women from violence by giving tribes the ability to share information about alleged domestic violence offenders across jurisdictions and to access national criminal information databases.

The 2012 opportunity was structured as a Cooperative Agreement and was open to Tribal Organizations (Not Federally Recognized) and Tribal Governments (Federally Recognized). The source provides no data on award portfolio composition, funding concentration, typical award magnitudes, or recent grant awards disbursed under this program. The absence of posted opportunities since 2012 suggests either that the program operates through sole-source funding to an existing registry operator, has been subsumed into broader Department of Justice tribal-focused initiatives, or may not be actively awarding new grants at present. Organizations interested in this program should contact the Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women directly to determine current funding status and whether new solicitations are planned.