[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4842 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4842

  To amend the Stored Communications Act to include Tribal courts as 
                   courts of competent jurisdiction.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 30, 2024

Ms. Cortez Masto (for herself and Mr. Rounds) introduced the following 
    bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Stored Communications Act to include Tribal courts as 
                   courts of competent jurisdiction.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Tribal Access to Electronic Evidence 
Act''.

SEC. 2. TRIBAL COURTS AS COURTS OF COMPETENT JURISDICTION UNDER STORED 
              COMMUNICATIONS ACT.

    (a) Definitions.--Section 2711 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) in paragraph (3)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``or'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as 
                subparagraph (D); and
                    (C) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the 
                following:
                    ``(C) a Tribal court; or''; and
            (2) by striking paragraph (4) and inserting the following:
            ``(4) the term `governmental entity' means a department or 
        agency of--
                    ``(A) the United States; or
                    ``(B) any State or Indian Tribe, or any political 
                subdivision thereof;
            ``(5) the term `Indian Tribe' means any Indian or Alaska 
        Native tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village, community, 
        component band, or component reservation individually 
        identified (including parenthetically) on the most recent list 
        published by the Secretary of the Interior under section 104 of 
        the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 
        U.S.C. 5131); and
            ``(6) the term `Tribal court' means a court of general 
        criminal jurisdiction of an Indian Tribe authorized by the law 
        of that Indian Tribe to issue search warrants.''.
    (b) Required Disclosure of Customer Communications or Records.--
Section 2703 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by striking ``State warrant 
        procedures and'' and inserting the following: ``State warrant 
        procedures, or, in the case of a Tribal court, issued using the 
        warrant procedures described in section 202(a)(2) of Public Law 
        90-284 (commonly known as the `Indian Civil Rights Act of 
        1968') (25 U.S.C. 1302(a)(2)), and'';
            (2) in subsection (b)(1)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``State 
                warrant procedures and'' and inserting the following: 
                ``State warrant procedures, or, in the case of a Tribal 
                court, issued using the warrant procedures described in 
                section 202(a)(2) of Public Law 90-284 (commonly known 
                as the `Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968') (25 U.S.C. 
                1302(a)(2)), and''; and
                    (B) in subparagraph (B)(i), by inserting ``, 
                Tribal,'' after ``by a Federal''; and
            (3) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ``State 
                warrant procedures and'' and inserting the following: 
                ``State warrant procedures, or, in the case of a Tribal 
                court, issued using the warrant procedures described in 
                section 202(a)(2) of Public Law 90-284 (commonly known 
                as the `Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968') (25 U.S.C. 
                1302(a)(2)), and''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (2), in the undesignated matter 
                following subparagraph (F), by inserting ``, Tribal,'' 
                after ``by a Federal''.
    (c) Delayed Notice.--Section 2705(a)(1)(B) of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting ``, Tribal,'' after ``by a 
Federal''.
    (d) Civil Action.--Section 2707(g) of title 18, United States Code, 
is amended, in the second sentence, by inserting ``Tribal,'' after 
``State,''.
    (e) Wrongful Disclosure of Video Tape Rental or Sale Records.--
Section 2710 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)(2)(C), by inserting after ``an 
        equivalent State warrant,'' the following: ``a warrant issued 
        by a Tribal court using the warrant procedures described in 
        section 202(a)(2) of Public Law 90-284 (commonly known as the 
        `Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968') (25 U.S.C. 1302(a)(2)),''; 
        and
            (2) in subsection (d), by striking ``or a political 
        subdivision of a State'' and inserting ``a political 
        subdivision of a State, or an Indian Tribe''.
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