Alaska Administrative Code › Title 3 - Commerce, Community, and Economic Development › Part 17 - Community Planning › Chapter 190 - Municipal Trust Land › Article 2 - Official Recognition of Village Entities Under AS 44.33.755 (b) › 3 AAC 190.140 - Recognition procedure

Current through May 31, 2024
(a) Any entity wishing to be recognized by
				  the commissioner under this chapter may initiate proceedings to obtain formal
				  recognition by filing with the commissioner a written petition for
				  recognition.
(b) Upon receipt of a
				  petition for recognition, or upon his or her own motion, the commissioner will
				  make an informal preliminary determination of whether the entity might be able
				  to meet the minimum eligibility requirements set out in
				  3 AAC 190.120. Upon a preliminary determination that the
				  requirement might be met, the commissioner will publish and post a written
				  notice, as provided in
				  3 AAC 190.910, advising the public of the potential
				  recognition of an entity, soliciting comments on the petition or potential
				  recognition, and stating that any other entity that wishes to be considered for
				  recognition must, within 30 days after the date the notice is posted, file a
				  petition for recognition.
(c) No
				  less than 40 days nor more than 60 days after the notice is posted and
				  published, if no other entity has filed a petition and no adverse written
				  comments have been submitted on the initiating petition, the commissioner will,
				  in his or her discretion, either deny recognition or issue a written Statement
				  of Intent to Recognize the entity under consideration. The Statement of Intent
				  to Recognize will be posted and published in the same manner as the original
				  notice.
(d) Except as provided
				  otherwise in this subsection, if more than one entity has filed a petition for
				  recognition with respect to a particular Native village, or if adverse written
				  comments are received by the commissioner in response to the original notice or
				  the Statement of Intent to Recognize, then the commissioner will schedule an
				  informal hearing in the village. The informal hearing will be held after public
				  notice in the village, as provided in
				  3 AAC 190.910, and anyone present may state views as to
				  the propriety of recognizing an entity under consideration. The commissioner
				  need not maintain a formal written record or tape-recording of the informal
				  hearing. If, after an informal hearing, a written Request for Formal
				  Decision-Making Procedure, signed by at least 10 bona fide residents of the
				  village or by 15 percent of the bona fide residents of the village, is filed,
				  then the commissioner will initiate a formal decision-making procedure under
				  3 AAC 190.950. The commissioner will, in his or her
				  discretion, elect to proceed with a formal decision-making procedure without
				  first holding an informal hearing under this section.
(e) The commissioner might, on his or her own
				  motion, initiate a village meeting under
				  3 AAC 190.220 to obtain the collective views of the
				  village residents on any proposed recognition of a village entity under
				  AS
				  44.33.755(b). The collective
				  views of the residents will be obtained and documented in the same manner as
				  prescribed in
				  3 AAC 190.240. If a simple majority approve the proposed
				  recognition, and the entity is otherwise qualified under
				  3 AAC 190.120, the commissioner will recognize the
				  entity as the "appropriate village entity" under
				  AS
				  44.33.755(b). This procedure
				  will, in the commissioner's discretion, be combined with the informal hearing
				  process described in (d) of this section.
(f) Upon compliance with the procedures
				  prescribed by this section, the commissioner will make a single final written
				  determination upon all petitions for recognition pending in respect to the
				  village.
Authority:
AS
						44.33.755(b)