New bill aims to address "shortcomings" of new office of missing, murdered indigenous relatives

On Monday, several Native leaders and supporters testified at the Senate Judiciary Committee in support of SB23-054. The bill would add elements to the recently created Office of Liaison for Missing or Murdered Indigenous Relatives, which was formed under SB 22-150 last year.

One of the people who testified was Felicia Munguia. Munguia's sister Nikki Burch-Woodhull was missing for several days in November and was later found murdered. Munguia and her family still wrestle with the pain.

"We're still getting through things day by day. It has not been easy, and it's not going to be," Munguia told CBS News Colorado. "I have two nieces that grieve, I've been grieving, my family has been grieving, it's been a nightmare."

While dealing with her sister's death, Munguia was also dealing with unresponsive authorities, which is why she wanted to be present Monday to testify to make sure no other family has to endure the heartbreak they did.

"I know how it felt, I felt like I was being silenced when I was looking for my little sister, no one deserves to feel that way," Munguia said.

Sen. Jessie Danielson is sponsoring the bill. She said there are "shortcomings" with the office's current form.

"While we want to acknowledge the difficult task that a new office has, we believe that we can better set them up to succeed,  for example decreasing the amount of time it might take between when a person goes missing and when an alert goes out," Danielson said.

In addition to refining the roles of the advisory board and getting funding to allocate to survivors and families of MMIR, the bill would allow easier access of criminal records from other law enforcement agencies and allow those records to be shared with families, as well as require better communication between the Office of Liaison for Missing or Murdered Indigenous Relatives and the families it is serving.

"So this legislation is designed to respond specifically to the requests of the indigenous community in a timely manner, and provide that necessary support back to the office of MMIR and its director," said Danielson.

CBS News Colorado contacted the office for a statement on the bill, and Patricia Billinger, a spokesperson for the Colorado Department of Public Safety-- Office of Liaison for Missing or Murdered Indigenous Relatives said, "We don't have a comment on the bill at this time given it's still going through the legislative process." 

About the shortcomings of the office, Billinger said "it would be inaccurate to describe it as 'shortcomings with the office,' considering the office has only been operational for just over 2 months and is operating successfully within the scope of duties outlined by the existing legislation that created it."

Munguia hopes that her testimony and the testimonies of others won't fall on deaf ears and instead lead to change.

"I will not let my sister be silenced in the way that she died," Munguia said.

As of late Monday, the judiciary committee decided to hold on voting. A vote is expected in the coming weeks.