106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1508

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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

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

5 Technical and Legal Assistance Act of 1999’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 The Congress finds and declares that—

3 (1) there is a government-to-government rela4 tionship between the United States and Indian

5 tribes;

6 (2) Indian tribes are sovereign entities and are

7 responsible for exercising governmental authority

8 over Indian lands;

9 (3) the rate of violent crime committed in In10 dian country is approximately twice the rate of vio11 lent crime committed in the United States as a

12 whole;

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

14 crime is a major obstacle to investment, job creation

15 and economic growth;

16 (5) tribal justice systems are an essential part

17 of tribal governments and serve as important forums

18 for ensuring the health and safety and the political

19 integrity of tribal governments;

20 (6) Congress and the Federal courts have re21 peatedly recognized tribal justice systems as the

22 most appropriate forums for the adjudication of dis23 putes affecting personal and property rights on Na24 tive lands;

25 (7) enhancing tribal court systems and improv26 ing access to those systems serves the dual Federal
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1 goals of tribal political self-determination and eco2 nomic self-sufficiency;

3 (8) there is both inadequate funding and an in4 adequate coordinating mechanism to meet the tech5 nical and legal assistance needs of tribal justice sys6 tems and this lack of adequate technical and legal

7 assistance funding impairs their operation;

8 (9) tribal court membership organizations have

9 served a critical role in providing training and tech10 nical assistance for development and enhancement of

11 tribal justice systems;

12 (10) Indian legal services programs, as funded

13 partially through the Legal Services Corporation,

14 have an established record of providing cost effective

15 legal assistance to Indian people in tribal court fo16 rums, and also contribute significantly to the devel17 opment of tribal courts and tribal jurisprudence; and

18 (11) the provision of adequate technical assist19 ance to tribal courts and legal assistance to both in20 dividuals and tribal courts is an essential element in

21 the development of strong tribal court systems.

22 SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

23 The purposes of this Act are as follows:

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

25 States to Indian tribes and members of Indian tribes
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1 by ensuring access to quality technical and legal as2 sistance.

3 (2) To strengthen and improve the capacity of

4 tribal court systems that address civil and criminal

5 causes of action under the jurisdiction of Indian

6 tribes.

7 (3) To strengthen tribal governments and the

8 economies of Indian tribes through the enhancement

9 and, where appropriate, development of tribal court

10 systems for the administration of justice in Indian

11 country by providing technical and legal assistance

12 services.

13 (4) To encourage collaborative efforts between

14 national or regional membership organizations and

15 associations whose membership consists of judicial

16 system personnel within tribal justice systems; non17 profit entities which provide legal assistance services

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

19 tribal justice systems.

20 (5) To assist in the development of tribal judi21 cial systems by supplementing prior Congressional

22 efforts such as the Indian Tribal Justice Act (Public

23 Law 103–176).

24 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

25 For purposes of this Act:
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1 (1) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Attorney

2 General’’ means the Attorney General of the United

3 States.

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

5 shall include lands within the definition of ‘‘Indian

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

7 reservations’’, as defined in section 3(d) of the In8 dian Financing Act of 1974, 25 U.S.C. 1452(d), or

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

10 U.S.C. 1903(10). For purposes of the preceding sen11 tence, such section 3(d) of the Indian Financing Act

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

13 reservations in Oklahoma’’ as including only lands

14 which are within the jurisdictional area of an Okla15 homa Indian Tribe (as determined by the Secretary

16 of Interior) and are recognized by such Secretary as

17 eligible for trust land status under 25 CFR part 151

18 (as in effect on the date of enactment of this sen19 tence).

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

21 means any Indian tribe, band, nation, pueblo, or

22 other organized group or community, including any

23 Alaska Native entity, which administers justice or

24 plans to administer justice under its inherent au25 thority or the authority of the United States and
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1 which is recognized as eligible for the special pro2 grams and services provided by the United States to

3 Indian tribes because of their status as Indians.

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

5 personnel’’ means any judge, magistrate, court coun6 selor, court clerk, court administrator, bailiff, proba7 tion officer, officer of the court, dispute resolution

8 facilitator, or other official, employee, or volunteer

9 within the tribal judicial system.

10 (5) NON-PROFIT ENTITIES.—The term ‘‘non11 profit entity’’ or ‘‘non-profit entities’’ has the mean12 ing given that term in section 501(c)(3) of the Inter13 nal Revenue Code.

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

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

16 Justice in the United States Department of Justice.

17 (7) TRIBAL JUSTICE SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘trib18 al court’’, ‘‘tribal court system’’, or ‘‘tribal justice

19 system’’ means the entire judicial branch, and em20 ployees thereof, of an Indian tribe, including, but

21 not limited to, traditional methods and fora for dis22 pute resolution, trial courts, appellate courts, includ23 ing inter-tribal appellate courts, alternative dispute

24 resolution systems, and circuit rider systems, estab-
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1 lished by inherent tribunal authority whether or not

2 they constitute a court of record.

3 TITLE I—TRAINING AND TECH4 NICAL ASSISTANCE, CIVIL

5 AND CRIMINAL LEGAL AS6 SISTANCE GRANTS

7 SEC. 101. TRIBAL JUSTICE TRAINING AND TECHNICAL AS8 SISTANCE GRANTS.

9 Subject to the availability of appropriations, the At10 torney General, in consultation with the Office of Tribal

11 Justice, shall award grants to national or regional mem12 bership organizations and associations whose membership

13 consists of judicial system personnel within tribal justice

14 systems which submit an application to the Attorney Gen15 eral in such form and manner as the Attorney General

16 may prescribe to provide training and technical assistance

17 for the development, enrichment, enhancement of tribal

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

19 SEC. 102. TRIBAL CIVIL LEGAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS.

20 Subject to the availability of appropriations, the At21 torney General, in consultation with the Office of Tribal

22 Justice, shall award grants to non-profit entities, as de23 fined under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue

24 Code, which provide legal assistance services for Indian

25 tribes, members of Indian tribes, or tribal justice systems
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1 pursuant to federal poverty guidelines that submit an ap2 plication to the Attorney General in such form and man3 ner as the Attorney General may prescribe for the provi4 sion of civil legal assistance to members of Indian tribes

5 and tribal justice systems, and/or other purposes con6 sistent with this Act.

7 SEC. 103. TRIBAL CRIMINAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS.

8 Subject to the availability of appropriations, the At9 torney General, in consultation with the Office of Tribal

10 Justice, shall award grants to non-profit entities, as de11 fined by section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code,

12 which provide legal assistance services for Indian tribes,

13 members of Indian tribes, or tribal justice systems pursu14 ant to federal poverty guidelines that submit an applica15 tion to the Attorney General in such form and manner

16 as the Attorney General may prescribe for the provision

17 of criminal legal assistance to members of Indian tribes

18 and tribal justice systems, and/or other purposes con19 sistent with this Act. Funding under this title may apply

20 to programs, procedures, or proceedings involving adult

21 criminal actions, juvenile delinquency actions, and/or

22 guardian-ad-litem appointments arising out of criminal or

23 delinquency acts.
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1 SEC. 104. NO OFFSET.

2 No Federal agency shall offset funds made available

3 pursuant to this Act for Indian tribal court membership

4 organizations or Indian legal services organizations

5 against other funds otherwise available for use in connec6 tion with technical or legal assistance to tribal justice sys7 tems or members of Indian tribes.

8 SEC. 105. TRIBAL AUTHORITY.

9 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to—

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

11 inherent sovereign authority of each tribal govern12 ment to determine the role of the tribal justice sys13 tem within the tribal government or to enact and en14 force tribal laws;

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

16 governments to appoint personnel;

17 (3) impair the rights of each tribal government

18 to determine the nature of its own legal system or

19 the appointment of authority within the tribal gov20 ernment;

21 (4) alter in any way any tribal traditional dis22 pute resolution fora;

23 (5) imply that any tribal justice system is an

24 instrumentality of the United States; or
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1 (6) diminish the trust responsibility of the

2 United States to Indian tribal governments and trib3 al justice systems of such governments.

4 SEC. 106. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

5 For purposes of carrying out the activities under this

6 title, there are authorized to be appropriated such sums

7 as are necessary for fiscal years 2000 through 2004.

8 TITLE II—INDIAN TRIBAL

9 COURTS

10 SEC. 201. GRANTS.

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

12 grants and provide technical assistance to Indian tribes

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

14 (1) the development, enhancement, and con15 tinuing operation of tribal justice systems; and

16 (2) the development and implementation of—

17 (A) tribal codes and sentencing guidelines;

18 (B) inter-tribal courts and appellate sys19 tems;

20 (C) tribal probation services, diversion pro21 grams, and alternative sentencing provisions;

22 (D) tribal juvenile services and multi-dis23 ciplinary protocols for child physical and sexual

24 abuse; and
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1 (E) traditional tribal judicial practices, tra2 ditional tribal justice systems, and traditional

3 methods of dispute resolution.

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

5 the Attorney General may consult with the Office of Tribal

6 Justice and any other appropriate tribal or Federal offi7 cials.

8 (c) REGULATIONS.—The Attorney General may pro9 mulgate such regulations and guidelines as may be nec10 essary to carry out this title.

11 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For pur12 poses of carrying out the activities under this section,

13 there are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are

14 necessary for fiscal years 2000 through 2004.

15 SEC. 202. TRIBAL JUSTICE SYSTEMS.

16 Section 201 of the Indian Tribal Justice Act (25

17 U.S.C. 3621) is amended—

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

19 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000’’ and inserting

20 ‘‘2000 through 2007’’;

21 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘1994, 1995,

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

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

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

3 ‘‘2000 through 2007’’; and

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

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

6 ‘‘2000 through 2007’’.

Passed the Senate November 19, 1999.

Attest:

Secretary.
106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1508

AN ACT

To provide technical and legal assistance to tribal

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