Cherokee Nation and Chickasaw Nation Criminal Jurisdiction Compacting Act of 2021
This bill authorizes the Cherokee Nation and the Chickasaw Nation to each enter into intergovernmental compacts with Oklahoma for the state to exercise its criminal jurisdiction within Indian country.
The bill outlines the requirements for such compacts, including that they must define the categories of criminal offenders or offenses within the reservation over which Oklahoma may exercise its jurisdiction.
The Department of Justice must, upon the request of a nation, consult with and provide technical assistance for developing or implementing a compact.
A nation may require an offender who is sentenced to a term of imprisonment of more than six months to serve such a sentence in the nearest appropriate federal facility.
The Department of the Interior must publish a compact that it receives from a nation. Interior must also report on the development and implementation of compacts and make recommendations to support and enhance the criminal justice system of each nation.
[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3091 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3091
To support clarity and consistency with regard to the exercise of
criminal jurisdiction and authority in Indian country, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 11, 2021
Mr. Cole introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on the
Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker,
in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the
jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To support clarity and consistency with regard to the exercise of
criminal jurisdiction and authority in Indian country, and for other
purposes.
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 ``Cherokee Nation and Chickasaw Nation
Criminal Jurisdiction Compacting Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Court rulings have affirmed the Cherokee Nation and the
Chickasaw Nation have reservations that constitute Indian
country for purposes of criminal jurisdiction, the boundaries
of which are set forth in each Nation's respective treaties
with the United States.
(2) Each Nation has worked with the State, including
certain political subdivisions of the State, to ensure
cooperation and coordination on law enforcement and public
safety within the respective reservations of the Nations.
(3) Legally effective compacts are important tools of
Tribal self-determination and are useful in avoiding
jurisdictional disputes within Indian country;
(4) The Nations and the State have successfully implemented
intergovernmental agreements on policing, taxation, child
welfare, gaming, hunting and fishing, and other matters
implicating their respective sovereign authorities, rights, and
interests.
(5) Sections 1152 and 1153 of title 18, United States Code,
and other Federal laws preempt the Nations and the State from
forming effective compacts respecting criminal jurisdiction in
Indian country.
(6) It is necessary, proper, and consistent with Federal
policies supporting Tribal self-determination to provide
express, specific, and defined authorization for purposes of
the Nations forming lawful and effective compacts with the
State respecting criminal jurisdiction on Indian country (other
than on Indian lands).
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Cherokee nation.--The term ``Cherokee Nation'' means
the federally recognized Indian Tribe with its present Tribal
headquarters south of Tahlequah, Oklahoma, having adopted its
most recent constitution on August 7, 2003, and having entered
into various treaties with the United States, including the
Treaty at Hopewell, executed on November 28, 1785 (7 Stat. 18),
and the Treaty at Washington, D.C., executed on July 19, 1866
(14 Stat. 799), and which has maintained a continuous
government-to-government relationship with the United States
since the earliest years of the Union.
(2) Chickasaw nation.--The term ``Chickasaw Nation'' means
a federally recognized Indian Tribe with its present Tribal
headquarters in Ada, Oklahoma, having adopted its most recent
constitution on August 27, 1983, and having entered into
various treaties with the United States of America, including
the Treaty at Hopewell, executed on January 10, 1786 (7 Stat.
24), and the Treaty at Washington, D.C., executed on April 28,
1866 (7 Stat. 21), and which has maintained a continuous
government-to-government relationship with the United States
since the earliest years of the Union.
(3) Indian.--The term ``Indian'' has the meaning given that
term in section 201(4) of the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968
(25 U.S.C. 1301(4)).
(4) Indian country.--The term ``Indian country'' has the
meaning given that term in section 1151 of title 18 of the
United States Code.
(5) Indian land.--The term ``Indian land'' means land
within a Nation's reservation--
(A) title to which is held in trust by the United
States for the benefit of an Indian Tribe or an Indian;
(B) title to which is held in fee by an Indian
Tribe or an Indian subject to restrictions against
alienation under laws of the United States;
(C) title to which is held in fee by an Indian
Tribe or an Indian in accord with a treaty with the
United States to which an Indian Tribe is a party, and
such land had never been allotted to any individual; or
(D) which otherwise constitutes Indian country
under subsection (b) or (c) of section 1151 of title
18, United States Code.
(6) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian Tribe'' means any
American Indian or Alaska Native Tribe, band, nation, pueblo,
village, or community that the Secretary acknowledges to exist
as a federally recognized Indian Tribe under the Federally
Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131).
(7) Nation.--The term ``Nation'' means the Cherokee Nation
or the Chickasaw Nation.
(8) Nations.--The ``Nations'' means the Cherokee Nation and
the Chickasaw Nation.
(9) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Interior.
(10) State.--The term ``State'' means the State of
Oklahoma.
SEC. 4. RESERVATION INTEGRITY.
To support clarity and consistency with respect to the exercise of
criminal jurisdiction and authority on the Nations' respective Indian
country--
(1) the reservation of each Nation, with boundaries as set
forth in its most recent treaty or agreement with the United
States, is acknowledged;
(2) the Secretary shall not take any land into trust status
within the exterior boundary of the reservation of a Nation
unless--
(A) the land is taken into trust status for the
benefit of that Nation or of a citizen or citizens of
that Nation; or
(B) the Nation consents in writing to the trust
status for such land; and
(3) the Secretary taking land within the exterior boundary
of a Nation's reservation into trust in accordance with
paragraph (2) shall not alter or diminish any criminal or civil
jurisdiction of the consenting Nation.
SEC. 5. NO EFFECT.
Nothing in this Act--
(1) waives the sovereign immunity of a Nation;
(2) expands, limits, modifies, or otherwise affects the
authority or right that a Nation possesses under, or which is
protected by, a treaty with the United States or other Federal
law;
(3) deprives a Nation of any right, privilege, or immunity
afforded under Federal treaty, agreement, statute, or other law
with respect to hunting, fishing, or water; or
(4) invalidates, supersedes, or restricts any
intergovernmental agreement or compact between a Nation and the
State, or any of its subdivisions, entered into before the date
of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 6. INTERGOVERNMENTAL CRIMINAL JURISDICTION COMPACTS.
(a) In General.--A Nation may negotiate and enter into one or more
intergovernmental compacts with the State regarding criminal
jurisdiction on the Indian country (other than on Indian land) of that
Nation, in accord with this Act.
(b) Authorization.--
(1) In general.--Upon entering into a compact that
satisfies the requirements of subsection (c) and subject to the
limitations set forth in subsection (d) and the terms of such
compact, the State may exercise its criminal jurisdiction in
accord with its laws over offenses committed by or against
Indians within the reservation of the Nation (other than on
Indian land) to the same extent as the courts of the State have
jurisdiction over and its laws apply to offenses committed
elsewhere within the State on lands that are not Indian
country, notwithstanding sections 1152 and 1153 of title 18,
United States Code, and other Federal laws providing for United
States criminal jurisdiction exclusive of State jurisdiction on
lands that are Indian country.
(2) Existing jurisdiction.--The jurisdiction of the State
described in paragraph (1) shall be concurrent with any
criminal jurisdiction of the United States and the Nation on
lands that are Indian country.
(c) Requirements.--An intergovernmental criminal jurisdiction
compact entered into under this section shall--
(1) define any geographic limits within the reservation of
the compacting Nation on which the State may exercise criminal
jurisdiction;
(2) define the categories of criminal offenders or offenses
within the reservation of the compacting Nation over which the
State may exercise jurisdiction;
(3) provide for means to amend the compact;
(4) provide for means for either party to revoke the
compact upon not less than one year of written notice to the
other party, specifying the date on which such revocation shall
take effect and stating that revocation shall not affect any
action, pending proceeding, conviction, adjudication, or final
determination over which a court has already assumed
jurisdiction; and
(5) provide that it shall take legal effect upon entry in
accordance with the respective laws of the State and the
Nation.
(d) Limitations.--Nothing in this Act or any agreement entered
under this Act shall--
(1) limit or otherwise diminish the jurisdiction of the
United States or of a Nation;
(2) limit or otherwise affect the allocation of criminal
jurisdiction respecting Indian land;
(3) alter or otherwise affect jurisdiction over any person
for any offense committed before a compact takes effect;
(4) limit or otherwise diminish criminal jurisdiction of
the State over offenses committed by a person anywhere on the
Indian country of a Nation before the date of a compact taking
effect;
(5) limit or otherwise diminish applicability of the
criminal laws of the State anywhere on the Indian country of a
Nation before the date of a compact taking effect; or
(6) confer upon the State any authority to impose any tax,
fee, charge, or other assessment upon a Nation, nor may the
State refuse to enter into a compact based on the lack of
authority in the State, including its political subdivisions,
to impose any such tax, fee, charge, or other assessment.
SEC. 7. FEDERAL ENGAGEMENT.
(a) United States Attorney General.--At the request of a Nation,
the Attorney General shall consult with and provide technical
assistance to the Nation for purposes of developing or implementing any
compact authorized under this Act.
(b) Bureau of Prisons.--In the case of an offender sentenced by a
Nation to a term of imprisonment of more than 6 months, the Nation may
require the offender to serve his or her sentence in the nearest
appropriate Federal facility. The Bureau of Prisons shall accept and
implement the term of imprisonment in accordance with such sentence,
and the term of imprisonment shall be subject to the conditions
described in section 5003 of title 18, United States Code, regarding
the custody of State offenders, except that any offender sentenced by a
Nation shall be imprisoned at the expense of the United States.
(c) Duties of the Secretary.--
(1) Publication of compact.--Upon a Nation and the State
entering a compact under section 6, the Nation may provide a
copy of the compact to the Secretary, who shall then cause
notice of the compact to be published in the Federal Register
not later than 30 days after receiving such copy.
(2) Report.--The Secretary shall--
(A) in consultation with each Nation--
(i) complete a report on the development
and implementation of compacts under this Act;
and
(ii) make recommendations for further
action to support and enhance the criminal
justice system of each Nation, including
additional Federal expenditures appropriate to
such actions; and
(B) not later than 2 years after the date of the
enactment of this Act, submit the report prepared under
subparagraph (A) to the Committee on Natural Resources
of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Indian Affairs of the Senate.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.
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