[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 52 (Friday, March 15, 1996)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 10673-10674]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-6231]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Indian Affairs

25 CFR Part 11

RIN 1076-AD29


Law and Order on Indian Reservations

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: This document amends the Agency's regulations governing Courts 
of Indian Offenses by removing from the Listing of Courts of Indian 
Offenses the names of those tribes which have exercised their inherent 
sovereignty and established tribal courts.

EFFECTIVE DATE: March 15, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bettie Rushing, Bureau of Indian 
Affairs, 1849 C St., NW., Mail Stop 4140-MIB, Washington, DC 20240-
4001, telephone number (202) 208-0437.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The authority to issue this amendment is 
vested in the Secretary of the Interior by 5 U.S.C. 301 and 25 U.S.C. 2 
and 9, and 25 U.S.C. 13 which authorizes appropriations for ``Indian 
judges.''
    The final rule amending the regulations contained in 25 CFR Part 11 
which included the Shoshone and Arapahoe Tribes of the Wind River 
Reservation (Wyoming), Flandreau Santee Sioux (South Dakota), the 
Yankton Sioux Tribe (South Dakota), the Cocopah Tribe (Arizona), the 
Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians (Arizona), the Duckwater Shoshone Tribe 
(Nevada), and the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians (Mississippi) in 
the listing of tribes to which Section 11.100(a) is applicable, was 
published September 22, 1994.
    The Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs, or her designee, is in 
receipt of law and order codes adopted by the Arapahoe Tribes of the 
Wind River Reservation, the Flandreau Santee Sioux, the Yankton Sioux 
Tribe, the Cocopah Tribe, the Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians, the 
Duckwater Shoshone Tribe, and the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians 
in accordance with their constitutions and by-laws and approved by the 
appropriate Bureau official. The Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs 
further recognizes that these courts were established in accordance 
with the tribes' constitutions and by-laws.
    Inclusion in Sec. 11.100, Listing of Courts of Indian Offenses, 
does not defeat the inherent sovereignty of a tribe to establish tribal 
courts and exercise jurisdiction under tribal law. Tillett v. Lujan, 
931 F.2d 636, 640 (10th Cir. 1991) (C.F.R. courts ``retain some 
characteristics of an agency of the federal government'' but they 
``also function as tribal courts''); Combrink v. Allen, 20 Indian L. 
Rep. 6029, 6030 (Ct. Ind. App., Tonkawa, Mar. 5, 1993) (C.F.R. court is 
a ``federally administered tribal court''); Ponca Tribal Election Board 
v. Snake, 17 Indian L. Rep. 6085, 6088 (Ct. Ind. App., Ponca, Nov. 10, 
1988) (``The Courts of Indian Offenses act as tribal courts since they 
are exercising the sovereign authority of the tribe for which the court 
sits.''). Such exercise of inherent sovereignty and the establishment 
of tribal courts shall comply with the requirements set forth in 25 CFR 
11.100(c).
    The Department has certified to the Office of Management and Budget 
that these final regulations meet the applicable standards provided in 
Sections 2(a) and 2(b)(2) of Executive Order 12778.
    This document is not a significant rule under Executive Order 12866 
and, therefore, will not require the approval of the Office of 
Management and Budget.
    This rule will not have a significant economic impact on a 
substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory Flexibility 
Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.).
    In accordance with E.O. 12630, the Department has determined that 
this rule does not have significant takings implications.
    The Department has determined that this rule does not have 
significant federalism effects.
    The Department of the Interior has determined that this correction 
does not constitute a major federal action significantly affecting the 
quality of the human environment and that no detailed statement is 
required pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.
    This correction does not contain information collection 
requirements which require the approval of the Office of Management and 
Budget under 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.
    The primary authors of this document are Earl Azure, Aberdeen Area 
Office, Terry Bruner, Anadarko Area Office, Mike Simpson, Billings Area 
Office, Karen Ketcher, Muskogee Area Office, Sharlot Johnson, Phoenix 
Area Office, and Bettie Rushing, Division of Tribal Government 
Services, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior.

List of Subjects in 25 CFR Part 11

    Courts, Indians--law, Law enforcement, penalties.

    For the reasons stated in the preamble, Part 11 of title 25 of the 
Code of the Federal Regulations is amended as follows:

PART 11--LAW AND ORDER ON INDIAN RESERVATIONS

    1. The authority citation for part 11 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; R.S. 463; 25 U.S.C. 2; R.S. 465; 25 
U.S.C. 9; 42 Stat. 208; 25 U.S.C. 13; 38 Stat. 586; 25 U.S.C. 200.

* * * * *
    2. Section 11.100 is amended by revising paragraph (a) as follows:
    
[[Page 10674]]



Sec. 11.100  Listing of Courts of Indian Offenses.

    (a) Except as otherwise provided in this title, the regulations 
under this part are applicable to the Indian country (as defined in 18 
U.S.C. 1151) occupied by the following tribes:
    (1) Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians (Minnesota).
    (2) Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation (Nevada).
    (3) Lovelock Paiute Tribe (Nevada).
    (4) Te-Moak Band of Western Shoshone Indians (Nevada).
    (5) Yomba Shoshone Tribe (Nevada).
    (6) Kootenai Tribe (Idaho).
    (7) Shoalwater Bay Tribe (Washington).
    (8) Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (North Carolina).
    (9) For the following tribes located in the former Oklahoma 
Territory (Oklahoma):

(i) Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma
(ii) Apache Tribe of Oklahoma
(iii) Caddo Tribe of Oklahoma
(iv) Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribe of Oklahoma
(v) Citizen Band of Potawatomi Indians of Oklahoma
(vi) Comanche Tribe of Oklahoma (Except Comanche Children's Court)
(vii) Delaware Tribe of Western Oklahoma
(viii) Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma
(ix) Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma
(x) Kaw Tribe of Oklahoma
(xi) Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma
(xii) Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma
(xiii) Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Oklahoma
(xiv) Pawnee Tribe of Oklahoma
(xv) Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma
(xvi) Tonkawa Tribe of Oklahoma
(xvii) Wichita and Affiliated Tribes of Oklahoma.

    (10) Hoopa Valley Tribe, Yurok Tribe, and Coast Indian Community of 
California (California Jurisdiction limited to special fishing 
regulations).
    (11) Louisiana Area (includes Coushatta and other tribes in the 
State of Louisiana which occupy Indian country and which accept the 
application of this part);
    Provided that this part shall not apply to any Louisiana tribe 
other than the Coushatta Tribe until notice of such application has 
been published in the Federal Register.
    (12) For the following tribes located in the former Indian 
Territory (Oklahoma):

(i) Chickasaw Nation
(ii) Choctaw Nation
(iii) Thlopthlocco Tribal Town
(iv) Seminole Nation
(v) Eastern Shawnee Tribe
(vi) Miami Tribe
(vii) Modoc Tribe
(viii) Ottawa Tribe
(ix) Peoria Tribe
(x) Quapaw Tribe
(xi) Wyandotte Tribe
(xii) Seneca-Cayuga Tribe
(xiii) Osage Tribe.

    (13) Ute Mountain Ute Tribe (Colorado).
* * * * *
    Dated: March 6, 1996.
Ada E. Deer,
Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 96-6231 Filed 3-14-96; 8:45 am]
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