In June 2015, 29-year-old Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes member Ida Beard went missing in El Reno, never to be seen again. Her case is still open.
Last week the Oklahoma Legislature passed a law designed to help solve cases like Beard’s across the state.
“Ida’s Law,” or Senate Bill 172, was authored by Rep. Collin Walke, D-Oklahoma City, and Sen. Paul Rosino, R-Oklahoma City. The bipartisan bill directs the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation to coordinate with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Department of Justice, and to create a new Office of Liaison for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons.
The office will be staffed by a missing persons specialist with “significant experience working with tribal communities,” the law specifies.
In a press release from the Oklahoma House of Representatives, Walke called the legislation “long overdue.”
“When you hear the stories of families missing their loved ones, and you read the news articles about it happening across the country, it’s obvious there is a problem,” Walke said. “This bill allows us to look at past and present data to determine the magnitude, and it also lays a foundation to be better prepared for cases in the future.”
“As a native woman, I am pleased to see the passage of legislation that will add value back to the lives of Indigenous women and people of color,” said House Native American Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Ajay Pittman, D-Oklahoma City. “This law will ultimately make our state a safer place.”
According to the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women, American Indian women face murder rates that are more than 10 times the national average. The issue of missing Native women has received more attention in recent years, and the Trump administration even started a federal task force about the problem in 2020.
Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes Gov. Reggie Wassana said the issue of murdered and missing Indigenous women “needed to be brought to light.”
“Ida’s Law is an important first step to helping address the crises in Oklahoma,” Wassana said in a statement posted online, adding that the legislation “sends a clear message to Tribes that the Oklahoma Legislature cares about our tribal citizens.”
“We all need to continue to work together for the public safety of all Oklahomans,” he said
Watonga’s representatives, state Sen. Darcy Jech and Rep. Mike Dobrinski, voted in favor of the bill, which passed the Senate unanimously and the House with only four “no” votes.
“Ida’s Law is a much-needed piece of legislation that will help our Native American tribes and set the standard for legislation of its kind across the nation,” said House Native American Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Ken Luttrell, R-Ponca City. “Thank you to my fellow legislators and our tribal partners for their dedication and hard work on behalf of the families of missing Indigenous women. I would also like to thank the OSBI for partnering on this historic bill."
The bill awaits a signature from Gov. Kevin Stitt.