09.22.14

Hoeven Announces More Than $1.3 Million in DOJ Funds to Address Alcohol, Substance Abuse at ND Tribes

WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven today announced that the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) has made two awards totaling more than $1.3 million to Native American tribes in North Dakota to address crimes related to alcohol and substance abuse. The awards are granted to the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and the Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe for $749,462 and $588,810, respectively. The funds are made available through the DOJ’s Justice Systems and Alcohol and Substance Abuse Program, which seeks to prevent and reduce alcohol and substance abused related crimes in tribal communities through enhanced enforcement, intervention and treatment for offenders and coordination with non-tribal agencies.

“Our law enforcement and judicial officials play a vital role in keeping our communities safe and maintaining our high quality of life,” Hoeven said. “They do this by not only responding to crime and bringing offenders to justice, but by providing the rehabilitation and treatment services needed to help prevent future offenses. These funds will support such important efforts at two of our state’s tribes.”

Senator Hoeven held a roundtable discussion in Williston earlier this month in a push to bring additional resources from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) into North Dakota to help state and local law enforcement officials with the growing number of crimes, including domestic and sexual violence, particularly in the Bakken region. In June, the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, on which Hoeven serves, passed the Commerce, Justice and Science funding bill, which includes a directive to the DOJ to develop a plan to support law enforcement in North Dakota and the Bakken.