California AB 31

Existing law provides that any person who comes within the provisions of specified statutes and who otherwise meets all standards imposed by law on a peace officer is a peace officer, grants certain authority to those individuals and their employing entities, and places certain requirements on those individuals and their employing entities. Existing law also grants specified limited arrest authority to certain other persons, including federal criminal investigators, park rangers, and peace officers from adjoining jurisdictions. Existing federal law authorizes tribal governments to employ tribal police for the enforcement of tribal law on tribal lands. Existing federal law requires the State of California to exercise criminal jurisdiction on Indian lands. Existing state law deems a tribal police officer who has been deputized or appointed by a county sheriff as a reserve or auxiliary deputy to be a peace officer in the State of California. Existing law, from July 1, 2026, until July 1, 2029, establishes the Tribal Police Pilot Program under the Department of Justice and the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training that grants peace officer authority to certain tribal police officers on Indian lands and elsewhere in the state under specified circumstances. Existing law authorizes the department to select 3 federally recognized tribes to participate in this pilot program, sets certain minimum qualifications and certification and training requirements for a tribal officer to act pursuant to this authority, and places certain requirements on the employing tribe, including a limited waiver of sovereign immunity and the adoption of a tribal law or resolution that authorizes the exercise of that authority and provides for public access to certain records. This bill would rename the pilot program to the Tribal Police Program and would extend the program indefinitely. Existing law creates the Tribal Police Pilot Fund in the State Treasury to, upon appropriation by the Legislature, assist program participants with the cost of information technology necessary to comply with reporting requirements for law enforcement agencies. This bill would rename that fund to the Tribal Police Fund.