A. The chief executive and administrative officer of the department is the "secretary of Indian affairs". The secretary shall be appointed by the governor with the consent of the senate. The secretary shall hold the office at the pleasure of the governor and shall serve in the executive cabinet.

B. An appointed secretary shall serve and have all of the duties, responsibilities and authority of that office during the period of time prior to final action by the senate confirming or rejecting the secretary's appointment.

History: Laws 2004, ch. 18, § 5 and Laws 2004, ch. 24, § 5.

Temporary provisions. — Laws 2019, ch. 106, § 1, effective March 28, 2019, provided:

A. The "missing and murdered indigenous women task force" is created and shall exist until the end of fiscal year 2021.

B. The task force consists of:

(1) the secretary of Indian affairs or the secretary's designee from the Indian affairs department, who shall be chair of the task force;

(2) the secretary of public safety or the secretary's designee from the department of public safety;

(3) a representative of the United State bureau of Indian affairs office of justice services designated by the southwest region's deputy regional director for Indian services of the bureau of Indian affairs;

(4) one person who is a member of a pueblo, appointed by the governor;

(5) one person who is a member of the Jicarilla Apache Nation, appointed by the governor;

(6) one person who is a member of the Mescalero Apache Tribe, appointed by the governor;

(7) one person who is a member of the Navajo Nation, appointed by the governor;

(8) one person from the office of the medical investigator;

(9) one person who is a representative of an indigenous women's nongovernmental organization that provides counseling services for indigenous women and girls who have been victims of violence, appointed by the governor;

(10) one person who is a representative of a statewide or local nongovernmental organization that provides legal services to indigenous women and girls who have been victims of violence, appointed by the governor; and

(11) one person who is an indigenous woman who has been a victim of violence or a family member of an indigenous woman who has been a victim of violence, appointed by the governor.

C. Vacancies by members of the task force appointed by the governor shall be filled by appointment by the governor.

D. Task force members appointed by the governor may receive per diem and mileage as provided for non-salaried public officers in the Per Diem and Mileage Act and shall receive no other compensation, perquisite or allowance.

E. The task force shall conduct a study to determine how to increase state resources for reporting and identifying missing and murdered indigenous women in the state. The task force shall collaborate with tribal law enforcement agencies to determine the scope of the problem, identify barriers to address the problem and create partnerships to improve the reporting of and the investigation of missing and murdered indigenous women.

F. The task force shall work with tribal governments and shall respect tribal sovereignty. The task force shall collaborate with the United States department of justice to improve its processes for information sharing and coordination of resources in regard to reporting and investigating cases of missing and murdered indigenous women in the state.

G. The task force shall report its findings and recommendations to the governor, the legislative council service library and the appropriate interim legislative committee and present those findings to the appropriate interim legislative committee prior to November 1, 2020.