II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1508

To provide technical and legal assistance to tribal justice systems and

members of Indian tribes, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

AUGUST 5, 1999

Mr. CAMPBELL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs

A BILL

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’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds and declares that—

8 (1) there is a government-to-government rela9 tionship between the United States and Indian

10 tribes;
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1 (2) Indian tribes are sovereign entities and are

2 responsible for exercising governmental authority

3 over Indian lands;

4 (3) the rate of violent crime committed in In5 dian country is approximately twice the rate of vio6 lent crime committed in the United States as a

7 whole;

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

9 crime is a major obstacle to investment, job creation

10 and economic growth;

11 (5) tribal justice systems are an essential part

12 of tribal governments and serve as important forums

13 for ensuring the health and safety and the political

14 integrity of tribal governments;

15 (6) Congress and the Federal courts have re16 peatedly recognized tribal justice systems as the

17 most appropriate forums for the adjudication of dis18 putes affecting personal and property rights on Na19 tive lands;

20 (7) enhancing tribal court systems and improv21 ing access to those systems serves the dual Federal

22 goals of tribal political self-determination and eco23 nomic self-sufficiency;

24 (8) there is both inadequate funding and an in25 adequate coordinating mechanism to meet the tech-
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1 nical and legal assistance needs of tribal justice sys2 tems and this lack of adequate technical and legal

3 assistance funding impairs their operation;

4 (9) tribal court membership organizations have

5 served a critical role in providing training and tech6 nical assistance for development and enhancement of

7 tribal justice systems;

8 (10) Indian legal services programs, as funded

9 partially through the Legal Services Corporation,

10 have an established record of providing cost effective

11 legal assistance to Indian people in tribal court fo12 rums, and also contribute significantly to the devel13 opment of tribal courts and tribal jurisprudence; and

14 (11) the provision of adequate technical assist15 ance to tribal courts and legal assistance to both in16 dividuals and tribal courts is an essential element in

17 the development of strong tribal court systems.

18 SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

19 The purposes of this Act are as follows:

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

21 States to Indian tribes and members of Indian tribes

22 by ensuring access to quality technical and legal as23 sistance.

24 (2) To strengthen and improve the capacity of

25 tribal court systems that address civil and criminal
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1 causes of action under the jurisdiction of Indian

2 tribes.

3 (3) To strengthen tribal governments and the

4 economies of Indian tribes through the enhancement

5 and, where appropriate, development of tribal court

6 systems for the administration of justice in Indian

7 country by providing technical and legal assistance

8 services.

9 (4) To encourage collaborative efforts between

10 national or regional membership organizations and

11 associations whose membership consists of judicial

12 system personnel within tribal justice systems; non13 profit entities which provide legal assistance services

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

15 tribal justice systems.

16 (5) To assist in the development of tribal judi17 cial systems by supplementing prior Congressional

18 efforts such as the Indian Tribal Justice Act (Public

19 Law 103–176).

20 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

21 For purposes of this Act:

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

23 General’’ means the Attorney General of the United

24 States.
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1 (2) INDIAN LANDS.—The term ‘‘Indian lands’’

2 shall include lands within the definition of ‘‘Indian

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

4 reservations’’, as defined in section 3(d) of the In5 dian Financing Act of 1974, 25 U.S.C. 1452(d), or

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

7 U.S.C. 1903(10). For purposes of the preceding sen8 tence, such section 3(d) of the Indian Financing Act

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

10 reservations in Oklahoma’’ as including only lands

11 which are within the jurisdictional area of an Okla12 homa Indian Tribe (as determined by the Secretary

13 of Interior) and are recognized by such Secretary as

14 eligible for trust land status under 25 CFR part 151

15 (as in effect on the date of enactment of this sen16 tence).

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

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

19 other organized group or community, including any

20 Alaska Native entity, which administers justice or

21 plans to administer justice under its inherent au22 thority or the authority of the United States and

23 which is recognized as eligible for the special pro24 grams and services provided by the United States

25 to Indian tribes because of their status as Indians.
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1 (4) JUDICIAL PERSONNEL.—The term ‘‘judicial

2 personnel’’ means any judge, magistrate, court coun3 selor, court clerk, court administrator, bailiff, proba4 tion officer, officer of the court, dispute resolution

5 facilitator, or other official, employee, or volunteer

6 within the tribal judicial system.

7 (5) NON-PROFIT ENTITIES.—The term ‘‘non8 profit entity’’ or ‘‘non-profit entities’’ has the mean9 ing given that term in section 501(c)(3) of the Inter10 nal Revenue Code.

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

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

13 Justice in the United States Department of Justice.

14 (7) TRIBAL JUSTICE SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘trib15 al court’’, ‘‘tribal court system’’, or ‘‘tribal justice

16 system’’ means the entire judicial branch, and em17 ployees thereof, of an Indian tribe, including, but

18 not limited to, traditional methods and fora for dis19 pute resolution, trial courts, appellate courts, includ20 ing inter-tribal appellate courts, alternative dispute

21 resolution systems, and circuit rider systems, estab22 lished by inherent tribunal authority whether or not

23 they constitute a court of record.
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1 TITLE I—TRAINING AND TECH2 NICAL ASSISTANCE, CIVIL

3 AND CRIMINAL LEGAL AS4 SISTANCE GRANTS

5 SEC. 101. TRIBAL JUSTICE TRAINING AND TECHNICAL AS6 SISTANCE GRANTS.

7 Subject to the availability of appropriations, the At8 torney General, in consultation with the Office of Tribal

9 Justice, shall award grants to national or regional mem10 bership organizations and associations whose membership

11 consists of judicial system personnel within tribal justice

12 systems which submit an application to the Attorney Gen13 eral in such form and manner as the Attorney General

14 may prescribe to provide training and technical assistance

15 for the development, enrichment, enhancement of tribal

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

17 SEC. 102. TRIBAL CIVIL LEGAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS.

18 Subject to the availability of appropriations, the At19 torney General, in consultation with the Office of Tribal

20 Justice, shall award grants to non-profit entities, as de21 fined under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue

22 Code, which provide legal assistance services for Indian

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

24 pursuant to federal poverty guidelines that submit an ap25 plication to the Attorney General in such form and man-
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1 ner as the Attorney General may prescribe for the provi2 sion of civil legal assistance to members of Indian tribes

3 and tribal justice systems, and/or other purposes con4 sistent with this Act.

5 SEC. 103. TRIBAL CRIMINAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS.

6 Subject to the availability of appropriations, the At7 torney General, in consultation with the Office of Tribal

8 Justice, shall award grants to non-profit entities, as de9 fined by section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code,

10 which provide legal assistance services for Indian tribes,

11 members of Indian tribes, or tribal justice systems pursu12 ant to federal poverty guidelines that submit an applica13 tion to the Attorney General in such form and manner

14 as the Attorney General may prescribe for the provision

15 of criminal legal assistance to members of Indian tribes

16 and tribal justice systems, and/or other purposes con17 sistent with this Act. Funding under this title may apply

18 to programs, procedures, or proceedings involving adult

19 criminal actions, juvenile delinquency actions, and/or

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

21 delinquency acts.

22 SEC. 104. NO OFFSET.

23 No Federal agency shall offset funds made available

24 pursuant to this Act for Indian tribal court membership

25 organizations or Indian legal services organizations
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1 against other funds otherwise available for use in connec2 tion with technical or legal assistance to tribal justice sys3 tems or members of Indian tribes.

4 SEC. 105. TRIBAL AUTHORITY.

5 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to—

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

7 inherent sovereign authority of each tribal govern8 ment to determine the role of the tribal justice sys9 tem within the tribal government or to enact and en10 force tribal laws;

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

12 governments to appoint personnel;

13 (3) impair the rights of each tribal government

14 to determine the nature of its own legal system or

15 the appointment of authority within the tribal gov16 ernment;

17 (4) alter in any way any tribal traditional dis18 pute resolution fora;

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

20 instrumentality of the United States; or

21 (6) diminish the trust responsibility of the

22 United States to Indian tribal governments and trib23 al justice systems of such governments.
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1 SEC. 106. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

2 For purposes of carrying out the activities under this

3 Act, there are authorized to be appropriated such sums

4 as are necessary for fiscal years 2000 through 2004.

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