State Taskforces & Reports

Of the 50 states, only 14 have passed legislation to establish taskforces related to the missing and murdered indigenous persons and relatives. The responsibilities of the taskforce are individual to each state, but they share many commonalities. The responsibilities of the taskforce often include:

• Identifying how to increase resources for reporting and identifying cases of MMIP

• Collaborating with tribal law enforcement agencies to determine the scope of the issue and identify barriers

• Create partnerships to improve reporting and investigations of cases

• Work with tribal governments and communities  

The status and success of these taskforces vary. New Mexico, once considered to be a leader in addressing the MMIP crisis, disbanded its task force in 2023. Other states, such as Washington, Minnesota, and Wyoming have successful taskforces that put out annual reports as recently as 2023 and 2024. Conversely, Wisconsin, Louisiana, and Alaska all established taskforces but have never released reports on the status of their work. New York is the most recent state to establish a task force, and other states have legislation pending as well.