Opinion ID: 2519859
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Dependent Indian Country

Text: {12} As a general principle, a state does not have jurisdiction over crimes committed by an Indian in Indian country. Dick, 1999-NMCA-062, ¶ 8, 127 N.M. 382, 981 P.2d 796. In the present case, because the accident did not occur on an Indian reservation or allotment, whether the accident occurred in Indian country depends on whether the accident occurred in a dependent Indian community pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 1151(b). Frank, 1997-NMCA-093, ¶ 4, 123 N.M. 734, 945 P.2d 464. {13} In 1948, Congress passed 18 U.S.C. § 1151 which defined Indian country as: (a) all land within the limits of any Indian reservation under the jurisdiction of the United States Government, notwithstanding the issuance of any patent, and, including rights-of-way running through the reservation, (b) all dependent Indian communities within the borders of the United States whether within the original or subsequently acquired territory thereof, and whether within or without the limits of a state, and (c) all Indian allotments, the Indian titles to which have not been extinguished, including rights-of-way running through the same. The Supreme Court did not interpret the term dependent Indian communities until 1998 when the Court decided Venetie. Venetie, 522 U.S. at 527, 118 S.Ct. 948. Before the Venetie decision, lower courts employed various tests in defining the term dependent Indian communities. See Dick, 1999-NMCA-062, ¶¶ 11-12, 127 N.M. 382, 981 P.2d 796; Thompson v. County of Franklin, 127 F.Supp.2d 145, 152-53 (N.D.N.Y.2000)(describing tests).