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ST. GEORGE — A new bill introduced in the Utah Legislature seeks to reinstate the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Task Force, aiming to tackle the ongoing crisis and provide much-needed support to affected communities.
"It's important to help wherever we can," House Rep. Rex Shipp told St. George News. "To have this task force, I'm in support of that. If there's something we can do to help that situation, we certainly need to."
Shipp, a member of the Native American Liaison Committee, noted that cooperation with local reservations has sometimes been lacking. He acknowledged that trust issues can be a barrier and believes the task force can play a key role in bridging those gaps.
The Utah Murdered and Missing Indigenous Relatives Task Force was originally set to end Nov. 30, 2024, but the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Relatives Amendments bill, designated HB125 in Utah's 2025 legislative session, seeks to extend the task force for another two years. The bill's sponsor, House Rep. Angela Romero, noted that COVID-19 significantly delayed efforts to assemble the task force. However, with funding secured for a study, the task force has been working to distribute its findings to tribal communities across Utah.
