Tribal Matters - Indian Country & Public Lands

Nevada is the seventh largest state in the union by virtue of its vast land mass, occupying approximately 110,540 square miles of land, or about 70 million acres. The federal government owns or manages approximately 87% of the land mass, with nearly 50 million acres managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), another 5 million managed by the United States Forest Service (USFS) and the remaining 5 million acres divided among various military installations, Native American reservations, wilderness areas and wildlife refuges. The federal government, through its public lands agencies, including the BLM, USFS, National Park Service, Department of Energy, US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Environmental Protection Agency, are responsible for managing and protecting those lands. The wide-ranging public lands in Nevada give rise to many criminal and civil land management issues, such as grazing and water rights; trespass and right of way; Native American claims; resource protection; claims in defense of the environment; wild, free-roaming horses; safety of federal officers and state’s rights. The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada has jurisdiction to prosecute individuals who commit offenses on these public lands and also represent the United States in civil actions filed on behalf of or against the land management agencies.

Nevada is home to 28 federally recognized tribes, bands and communities located on 31 Indian reservations and colonies. The United States Attorney’s Office is committed to fighting crime on tribal lands where we have jurisdiction to do so and making our Native American reservations and colonies safer. The United States Attorney’s Office has jurisdiction to prosecute felonies occurring on these reservations and colonies. The staffed branch office in Reno, Nevada, handles the majority of the cases that originate on Nevada Native American lands. In furtherance of our commitment to safety on the reservations and colonies and in addressing Native American issues, our United States Attorney’s Office has put together a District of Nevada Operational Plan for Tribal Matters and a District of Nevada Informational Resource Manual for Tribal Matters. The primary purpose of the Operational Plan and the Manual is to provide information and a resource in a number of areas concerning Tribal matters, to include policies and procedures of the USAO with respect to Indian Country investigations and prosecutions, federal offenses and their statutory elements, information concerning jurisdiction, maps of Nevada and our various Tribes, reservations and colonies, victim information and resources, Tribal profiles of each of our Tribes, reservations and colonies and pertinent points of contact for our Tribes, law enforcement partners, victims and witnesses.

Federal Resources

Office of Sex Offender, Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART)
The Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking (SMART) assists tribal governments that have opted-in to operate sex offender registries pursuant to the Adam Walsh Act.

Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs (OJP)
The Office of Justice Programs administers grant programs, supports research and evaluation projects, and provides training, statistical and technical assistance for States, local communities and Indian tribes.

Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS)
COPS provides grants to tribal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to hire and train community policing professionals, acquire and deploy cutting-edge crime-fighting technologies, and develop and test innovative policing strategies.

Office for Victims of Crime (OVC)
The Office for Victims of Crime oversees diverse programs that benefit victims of crime. OVC provides substantial funding to victim assistance and compensation programs and supports trainings designed to educate criminal justice and allied professionals regarding the rights and needs of crime victims.

Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)
The Bureau of Justice Assistance serves to reduce and prevent crime, violence, and drug abuse and improve the functioning of the criminal justice system through the administration of grant programs and the provision of training and technical assistance.

Office on Violence Against Women (OVW)
The Office on Violence Against Women addresses legal and policy issues regarding violence against women, coordinates Departmental efforts, provides national and international leadership, receives international visitors interested in learning about the federal government's role in addressing violence against women, and responds to requests for information regarding violence against women.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Within the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division, the Indian Country unit (ICU) is responsible for developing and implementing strategies, programs, and policies to address identified crime problems in Indian Country for which the FBI has responsibility.

Civil Rights Division (CRD)
The Civil Rights Division is the primary institution within the Department responsible for enforcing Federal statutes that prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability and religion.

Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD)
The Indian Resources Section conducts litigation for the United States as trustee for the United States as trustee for the protection of the resources and rights of federally recognized Indian tribes and members of such tribes.

Community Relations Services (CRS)
Community Relations Services provides mediation and conflict resolution services to tribal governments, law enforcement and community on and off the reservation, when community tensions arise over racial or ethnic issues.

Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
The Bureau of Justice Statistics collects, analyzes, publishes, and disseminates information on crime, criminal offenders, victims of crime, and the operation of justice systems at all levels of government.

National Institute of Justice (NIJ)
The National Institute of Justice is the research, development, and evaluation agency of the U.S. Department of Justice and is dedicated to researching crime control and justice issues.