Law

DOJ finalizes process to restore role in Public Law 280 state

Friday, December 9, 2011

The Department of Justice has finalized the process by which it can resume jurisdiction over reservations located in Public Law 280 states.

Under Public Law 280, which was passed during the termination era, six states assumed criminal and civil criminal jurisdiction in Indian Country. The law divested the federal government of its concurrent jurisdiction in these "mandatory" states.

The law, as amended in 1968, provides a mechanism by which a state can retrocede its jurisdiction over a particular reservation. The Tribal Law and Order Act, which President Barack Obama signed into law in 2010, takes the process one step further by allowing a tribe to request the federal government restore its role.

"Assumption of concurrent Federal criminal jurisdiction under this rule does not require the approval of any State," DOJ said in a notice published in the Federal Register on December 6.

The notice states that the process does not apply to tribes in "optional" Public Law 280 states. DOJ has already concluded that it has maintained concurrent jurisdiction in "optional" states.

According to Public Law 280: Issues and Concerns for Victims of Crime in Indian Country, the "mandatory" states are California, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, Wisconsin and Alaska. There were some exceptions, as noted by the article, and three "mandatory" states have retroceded jurisdiction over certain reservations.

The rule describes the process by which DOJ will evaluate requests from tribes in the mandatory states. A notice will be published in the Federal Register within 30 days, opening a comment period on the request.

Get the Story:
A.G. Sets Procedures for Tribes to Request Help (Courthouse News 12/9)

Federal Register Notice:
Office of the Attorney General; Assumption of Concurrent Federal Criminal Jurisdiction in Certain Areas of Indian Country