U.S. Accepts Concurrent Jurisdiction Over Hoopa Valley Reservation
The Department of Justice has granted a request by the Hoopa Valley Tribe for the United States to assume concurrent criminal jurisdiction on the tribe’s reservation.
The decision was the third assumption of jurisdiction granted by the Department of Justice under theTribal Law and Order Act of 2010 (TLOA), which gave the department discretion to accept concurrent federal jurisdiction to prosecute violations of the General Crimes Act and the Major Crimes Act within areas of Indian country that are also subject to state criminal jurisdiction under Public Law 280. Public Law 280 is the 1953 law that mandated the transfer of federal law enforcement jurisdiction for certain tribes to six states, including California. The first assumption of federal jurisdiction took place on Minnesota’s White Earth Reservation in March 2013.
The decision will take effect no later than November 18, 2017.
