Kansas A.G. announces focus on missing, murdered indigenous persons

TOPEKA – (July 11, 2022) – Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt today announced that a new module has been developed to train law enforcement in the investigation of missing and murdered indigenous persons (MMIP) in Kansas.

Schmidt said the new training was developed in accordance with the bipartisan passage of House Bill 2008 during the 2021 legislative session, which took effect July 1, 2021. The measure authorized the attorney general’s office to coordinate training for law enforcement agencies throughout Kansas regarding MMIP.

Over the past year, the attorney general’s office worked with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center (KLETC) on developing the new training that contains a historical context, definitions, statutes, tribal sovereignty and jurisdictional challenges, the potential nexus with human trafficking, the importance of federal, state and local partnerships, and resources available to aid investigations of MMIP.

Schmidt said the office sought the assistance and input from officials from the four federally recognized Native American tribes in Kansas, as well as the Native American members of the Legislature who sponsored the bill. The new online training module was reviewed and officially launched on July 1, 2022, on the KLETC web portal for use by law enforcement personnel, social services advocates, educators and the public.

The training course can be found at https://bit.ly/3P7XuVt.

The training course will be reviewed and updated by KLETC training developers based on feedback and notes received throughout the year. The next update will be released on July 1, 2023.