[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 103 (Wednesday, May 31, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24990-24991]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-11186]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Office of Hearings and Appeals
[17XD0120OS.DX68201.QAGENLAM.DOTN00000.000000.DS68241000]
Tribal Listening Session; Oklahoma City Probate Hearings Division
Field Office
AGENCY: Office of Hearings and Appeals, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Department of the Interior's (Department) Office of
Hearings and Appeals (OHA), Probate Hearings Division (Ph.D.) is
responsible for probating Indian trust estates. OHA plans to close the
Ph.D. Oklahoma City Field Office at the end of this fiscal year,
September 30, 2017. This notice is to inform interested federally
recognized tribes, individual Indians, and other interested parties of
an upcoming opportunity to share insights and make recommendations
regarding how OHA can best maintain its level of service. The agencies
and areas served by the Oklahoma City Ph.D. office include Horton,
Absentee Shawnee, Anadarko, Cherokee Nation, Chickasaw Nation, Choctaw
Nation, Citizen Pottawatomie, Concho, Eastern Oklahoma, Miami, Pawnee,
Sac & Fox (except IA), Shawnee, and Southern Plains.
DATES: Written comments must be received by June 30, 2017. Please see
the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice for the date of
the Tribal listening session.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by one of the following methods:
Email: [email protected].
By hard copy: Submit by U.S. mail to Ms. Christine Kelly,
Office of Hearings and Appeals, Probate Hearings Division, U.S.
Department of the Interior, P.O. Box 26147, Albuquerque, NM 87125; or
by hand delivery to: Ms. Christine Kelly, Office of Hearings and
Appeals, Probate Hearings Division, U.S. Department of the Interior,
1011 Indian School Road, NW., Room 322, Albuquerque, NM 87104.
Please see the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice for
information on the Tribal listening session.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Christine Kelly, Office of
Hearings and Appeals, Probate Hearings Division, U.S. Department of the
Interior, P.O.
[[Page 24991]]
Box 26147, Albuquerque, NM 87104; telephone--(505) 563-5330; email_
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
The Department will host the Tribal listening session by
teleconference on June 22, 2017 from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Central
Time. The call-in number is: 1-888-968-4312 and the passcode is:
3839047. The Department will also accept written comments received by
the date listed in the DATES section of this notice.
I. Background
PHD serves as the Department's administrative trial court for
Indian probate cases. Through formal hearings conducted by
Administrative Law Judges and Indian Probate Judges, and summary
proceedings conducted by an Attorney Decision Maker, PHD determines the
rightful heirs and beneficiaries of decedents who owned property held
in trust or restricted title by the United States. PHD determines the
validity of wills, decides what claims against the estate will be
allowed, and orders distribution of the trust or restricted property to
those entitled to receive it.
PHD Headquarters office is located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and
field offices are located in Rapid City, South Dakota, Billings,
Montana, Bloomington, Minnesota, Sacramento, California, and Oklahoma
City, Oklahoma. In June 2015, the Administrative Law Judge based in the
Oklahoma City office retired and all but one employee subsequently left
OHA for other opportunities. The remaining employee, now an Indian
Probate Judge, continued to serve the Oklahoma City office area,
conducting hearings in Oklahoma City and at locations throughout the
region depending on where potential heirs reside.
In light of the Administrative Law Judge's retirement and the other
staff departures, OHA plans to close the Oklahoma City office. The
closure of the office will realize cost savings for the Federal
Government and further promote the streamlining of operations. The IPJ
will continue to serve the Oklahoma City office area from a home
office, and she and other Ph.D. Judges will continue to conduct
hearings in Oklahoma City and travel, as appropriate, to other areas
served by the Oklahoma City office. OHA will continue to offer
telephonic access to hearings so that people who do not live in the
local area may participate in the hearings process without incurring
travel expenses, if they so choose. OHA's goal is to make participation
in probate hearings as convenient as possible and available to the
greatest number of interested parties. The primary focus will be to
hold in-person hearings locally, when practicable.
Efforts to maintain the level of service have been ongoing since
the departure of most of Oklahoma City's employees and will continue
even with the closure of the physical office space. OHA is not aware of
any complaints that case disposition productivity diminished during
this transition, but, through this listening session, Tribes,
individual Indians, and interested parties are provided an opportunity
to submit insights and recommendations of how OHA can best maintain its
level of service in the areas served by the Oklahoma City Ph.D. office.
Authority: 212 DM 13.1
Dated: May 22, 2017.
Janet H. Lin,
Deputy Director--Office of Hearings and Appeals.
[FR Doc. 2017-11186 Filed 5-30-17; 8:45 am]
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