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Union Calendar No. 481

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1508

[Report No. 106–819, Part I]

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 27, 2000

Referred to the Committee on Resources, and in addition to the Committee

on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

SEPTEMBER 6, 2000

Reported from the Committee on Resources

SEPTEMBER 6, 2000

Referral to the Committee on the Judiciary extended for a period ending not

later than September 6, 2000

SEPTEMBER 6, 2000

The Committee on the Judiciary discharged; committed to the Committee of

the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

AN ACT

To provide technical and legal assistance to tribal justice

systems and members of Indian tribes, and for other

purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Indian Tribal Justice

3 Technical and Legal Assistance Act of 1999’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 The Congress finds and declares that—

6 (1) there is a government-to-government rela7 tionship between the United States and Indian

8 tribes;

9 (2) Indian tribes are sovereign entities and are

10 responsible for exercising governmental authority

11 over Indian lands;

12 (3) the rate of violent crime committed in In13 dian country is approximately twice the rate of vio14 lent crime committed in the United States as a

15 whole;

16 (4) in any community, a high rate of violent

17 crime is a major obstacle to investment, job creation

18 and economic growth;

19 (5) tribal justice systems are an essential part

20 of tribal governments and serve as important forums

21 for ensuring the health and safety and the political

22 integrity of tribal governments;

23 (6) Congress and the Federal courts have re24 peatedly recognized tribal justice systems as the

25 most appropriate forums for the adjudication of dis-
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1 putes affecting personal and property rights on Na2 tive lands;

3 (7) enhancing tribal court systems and improv4 ing access to those systems serves the dual Federal

5 goals of tribal political self-determination and eco6 nomic self-sufficiency;

7 (8) there is both inadequate funding and an in8 adequate coordinating mechanism to meet the tech9 nical and legal assistance needs of tribal justice sys10 tems and this lack of adequate technical and legal

11 assistance funding impairs their operation;

12 (9) tribal court membership organizations have

13 served a critical role in providing training and tech14 nical assistance for development and enhancement of

15 tribal justice systems;

16 (10) Indian legal services programs, as funded

17 partially through the Legal Services Corporation,

18 have an established record of providing cost effective

19 legal assistance to Indian people in tribal court fo20 rums, and also contribute significantly to the devel21 opment of tribal courts and tribal jurisprudence; and

22 (11) the provision of adequate technical assist23 ance to tribal courts and legal assistance to both in24 dividuals and tribal courts is an essential element in

25 the development of strong tribal court systems.
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1 SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

2 The purposes of this Act are as follows:

3 (1) to carry out the responsibility of the United

4 States to Indian tribes and members of Indian tribes

5 by ensuring access to quality technical and legal as6 sistance.

7 (2) To strengthen and improve the capacity of

8 tribal court systems that address civil and criminal

9 causes of action under the jurisdiction of Indian

10 tribes.

11 (3) To strengthen tribal governments and the

12 economies of Indian tribes through the enhancement

13 and, where appropriate, development of tribal court

14 systems for the administration of justice in Indian

15 country by providing technical and legal assistance

16 services.

17 (4) To encourage collaborative efforts between

18 national or regional membership organizations and

19 associations whose membership consists of judicial

20 system personnel within tribal justice systems; non21 profit entities which provide legal assistance services

22 for Indian tribes, members of Indian tribes, and/or

23 tribal justice systems.

24 (5) To assist in the development of tribal judi25 cial systems by supplementing prior Congressional
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1 efforts such as the Indian Tribal Justice Act (Public

2 Law 103–176).

3 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

4 For purposes of this Act:

5 (1) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Attorney

6 General’’ means the Attorney General of the United

7 States.

8 (2) INDIAN LANDS.—The term ‘‘Indian lands’’

9 shall include lands within the definition of ‘‘Indian

10 country’’, as defined in 18 U.S.C. 1151; or ‘‘Indian

11 reservations’’, as defined in section 3(d) of the In12 dian Financing Act of 1974, 25 U.S.C. 1452(d), or

13 section 4(10) of the Indian Child Welfare Act, 25

14 U.S.C. 1903(10). For purposes of the preceding sen15 tence, such section 3(d) of the Indian Financing Act

16 shall be applied by treating the term ‘‘former Indian

17 reservations in Oklahoma’’ as including only lands

18 which are within the jurisdictional area of an Okla19 homa Indian Tribe (as determined by the Secretary

20 of Interior) and are recognized by such Secretary as

21 eligible for trust land status under 25 CFR part 151

22 (as in effect on the date of enactment of this sen23 tence).

24 (3) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’

25 means any Indian tribe, band, nation, pueblo, or
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1 other organized group or community, including any

2 Alaska Native entity, which administers justice or

3 plans to administer justice under its inherent au4 thority or the authority of the United States and

5 which is recognized as eligible for the special pro6 grams and services provided by the United States to

7 Indian tribes because of their status as Indians.

8 (4) JUDICIAL PERSONNEL.—The term ‘‘judicial

9 personnel’’ means any judge, magistrate, court coun10 selor, court clerk, court administrator, bailiff, proba11 tion officer, officer of the court, dispute resolution

12 facilitator, or other official, employee, or volunteer

13 within the tribal judicial system.

14 (5) NON-PROFIT ENTITIES.—The term ‘‘non15 profit entity’’ or ‘‘non-profit entities’’ has the mean16 ing given that term in section 501(c)(3) of the Inter17 nal Revenue Code.

18 (6) OFFICE OF TRIBAL JUSTICE.—The term

19 ‘‘Office of Tribal Justice’’ means the Office of Tribal

20 Justice in the United States Department of Justice.

21 (7) TRIBAL JUSTICE SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘trib22 al court’’, ‘‘tribal court system’’, or ‘‘tribal justice

23 system’’ means the entire judicial branch, and em24 ployees thereof, of an Indian tribe, including, but

25 not limited to, traditional methods and fora for dis-
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1 pute resolution, trial courts, appellate courts, includ2 ing inter-tribal appellate courts, alternative dispute

3 resolution systems, and circuit rider systems, estab4 lished by inherent tribunal authority whether or not

5 they constitute a court of record.

6 TITLE I—TRAINING AND TECH7 NICAL ASSISTANCE, CIVIL

8 AND CRIMINAL LEGAL AS9 SISTANCE GRANTS

10 SEC. 101. TRIBAL JUSTICE TRAINING AND TECHNICAL AS11 SISTANCE GRANTS.

12 Subject to the availability of appropriations, the At13 torney General, in consultation with the Office of Tribal

14 Justice, shall award grants to national or regional mem15 bership organizations and associations whose membership

16 consists of judicial system personnel within tribal justice

17 systems which submit an application to the Attorney Gen18 eral in such form and manner as the Attorney General

19 may prescribe to provide training and technical assistance

20 for the development, enrichment, enhancement of tribal

21 justice systems, or other purposes consistent with this Act.

22 SEC. 102. TRIBAL CIVIL LEGAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS.

23 Subject to the availability of appropriations, the At24 torney General, in consultation with the Office of Tribal

25 Justice, shall award grants to non-profit entities, as de-
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1 fined under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue

2 Code, which provide legal assistance services for Indian

3 tribes, members of Indian tribes, or tribal justice systems

4 pursuant to federal poverty guidelines that submit an ap5 plication to the Attorney General in such form and man6 ner as the Attorney General may prescribe for the provi7 sion of civil legal assistance to members of Indian tribes

8 and tribal justice systems, and/or other purposes con9 sistent with this Act.

10 SEC. 103. TRIBAL CRIMINAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS.

11 Subject to the availability of appropriations, the At12 torney General, in consultation with the Office of Tribal

13 Justice, shall award grants to non-profit entities, as de14 fined by section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code,

15 which provide legal assistance services for Indian tribes,

16 members of Indian tribes, or tribal justice systems pursu17 ant to federal poverty guidelines that submit an applica18 tion to the Attorney General in such form and manner

19 as the Attorney General may prescribe for the provision

20 of criminal legal assistance to members of Indian tribes

21 and tribal justice systems, and/or other purposes con22 sistent with this Act. Funding under this title may apply

23 to programs, procedures, or proceedings involving adult

24 criminal actions, juvenile delinquency actions, and/or
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1 guardian-ad-litem appointments arising out of criminal or

2 delinquency acts.

3 SEC. 104. NO OFFSET.

4 No Federal agency shall offset funds made available

5 pursuant to this Act for Indian tribal court membership

6 organizations or Indian legal services organizations

7 against other funds otherwise available for use in connec8 tion with technical or legal assistance to tribal justice sys9 tems or members of Indian tribes.

10 SEC. 105. TRIBAL AUTHORITY.

11 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to—

12 (1) encroach upon or diminish in any way the

13 inherent sovereign authority of each tribal govern14 ment to determine the role of the tribal justice sys15 tem within the tribal government or to enact and en16 force tribal laws;

17 (2) diminish in any way the authority of tribal

18 governments to appoint personnel;

19 (3) impair the rights of each tribal government

20 to determine the nature of its own legal system or

21 the appointment of authority within the tribal gov22 ernment;

23 (4) alter in any way any tribal traditional dis24 pute resolution fora;
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1 (5) imply that any tribal justice system is an

2 instrumentality of the United States; or

3 (6) diminish the trust responsibility of the

4 United States to Indian tribal governments and trib5 al justice systems of such governments.

6 SEC. 106. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

7 For purposes of carrying out the activities under this

8 title, there are authorized to be appropriated such sums

9 as are necessary for fiscal years 2000 through 2004.

10 TITLE II—INDIAN TRIBAL

11 COURTS

12 SEC. 201. GRANTS.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may award

14 grants and provide technical assistance to Indian tribes

15 to enable such tribes to carry out programs to support—

16 (1) the development, enhancement, and con17 tinuing operation of tribal justice systems; and

18 (2) the development and implementation of—

19 (A) tribal codes and sentencing guidelines;

20 (B) inter-tribal courts and appellate sys21 tems;

22 (C) tribal probation services, diversion pro23 grams, and alternative sentencing provisions;
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1 (D) tribal juvenile services and multi-dis2 ciplinary protocols for child physical and sexual

3 abuse; and

4 (E) traditional tribal judicial practices, tra5 ditional tribal justice systems, and traditional

6 methods of dispute resolution.

7 (b) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out this section,

8 the Attorney General may consult with the Office of Tribal

9 Justice and any other appropriate tribal or Federal offi10 cials.

11 (c) REGULATIONS.—The Attorney General may pro12 mulgate such regulations and guidelines as may be nec13 essary to carry out this title.

14 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For pur15 poses of carrying out the activities under this section,

16 there are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are

17 necessary for fiscal years 2000 through 2004.

18 SEC. 202. TRIBAL JUSTICE SYSTEMS.

19 Section 201 of the Indian Tribal Justice Act (25

20 U.S.C. 3621) is amended—

21 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘1994, 1995,

22 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000’’ and inserting

23 ‘‘2000 through 2007’’;
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1 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘1994, 1995,

2 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000’’ and inserting

3 ‘‘2000 through 2007’’;

4 (3) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘1994, 1995,

5 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000’’ and inserting

6 ‘‘2000 through 2007’’; and

7 (4) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘1994, 1995,

8 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000’’ and inserting

9 ‘‘2000 through 2007’’.

Passed the Senate November 19, 1999.

Attest: GARY SISCO,

Secretary.

Union Calendar No. 481

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1508

[Report No. 106–819, Part I]

AN ACT

To provide technical and legal assistance to tribal

justice systems and members of Indian tribes,and for other purposes.

SEPTEMBER 6, 2000

Reported from the Committee on Resources

SEPTEMBER 6, 2000

Referral to the Committee on the Judiciary extended for

a period ending not later than September 6, 2000

SEPTEMBER 6, 2000

The Committee on the Judiciary discharged; committed

to the Committee of the Whole House on the State ofthe Union and ordered to be printed