Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe-Tribal Courts Security Enhancement FY23 Project

The current gap faced by the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Courts (Courts) is in our court security. The SRMT Tribal Courts do not have the funding to maintain our full-time court security officer position past 2023, we also need a part-time court security officer, and security equipment, including a metal detector, x-ray machine, and two hand wands. The courts have experienced several security incidents, including having to continue a case due to lack of security. The courts also had a 90 percent increase in nontraffic case filings in 2022. The courts held 210 appearances that included status conferences, pretrials, hearings, and trials, which was an increase from 164 court appearances in 2021. This increase in cases will grow because the tribe is working on enacting other codes. This has increased the demand for court security because we have court appearances almost every day of the week. The courts administer a court security team, which includes court staff, tribal security, the tribe’s assistant executive director, and tribal police. The team assisted with finding temporary funding for a full-time position until the end of 2023. However, there is no funding available after 2023 for the court security officer. With funding for court security officers and equipment, the courts will be able to provide a safe environment for staff and the community.