25 C.F.R. PART 82—PETITIONING PROCEDURES FOR TRIBES REORGANIZED UNDER FEDERAL STATUTE AND OTHER ORGANIZED TRIBES
Title 25 - Indians
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301, and 25 U.S.C. 2, 9, 473a, 476, 477 and 503.
Source: 46 FR 1675, Jan. 7, 1981, unless otherwise noted. Redesignated at 47 FR 13327, Mar. 30, 1982.
As used in this part: (a) Area Director means the Director of the Bureau Area Office having administrative jurisdiction over the petitioners' tribe. (b) Bureau means the Bureau of Indian Affairs. (c) Charter means a charter of incorporation the Secretary may issue to a recognized tribe pursuant to a Federal Statute. (d) Commissioner means the Commissioner of Indian Affairs or his/her authorized representative. (e) Constitution or Constitution and Bylaws means the written organizational framework of any tribe for the exercise of governmental powers. (f) Eligible, entitled, or qualified voter means the status achieved by a tribal member who meets the requirement of a tribal constitution or election ordinance to vote in a tribal election; provided, that where a tribe has reorganized pursuant to a Federal Statute, to be an entitled or a qualified voter for purposes of this part, the tribal member must be at least 18 years of age and be eligible to register for voting in a Secretarial election (see part 81 of this chapter). (g) Federal Statute means one of the following: (1) The Act of June 18, 1934, 48 Stat. 984, as amended (Indian Reorganization Act), (2) the Act of June 26, 1936, 49 Stat. 1967 (Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act), or (3) the Act of May 1, 1936, 49 Stat. 1250 (Alaska Native Reorganization Act). (h) Local Bureau Official means the Superintendent, Field Representative, or other line officer of the Bureau of Indian Affairs who has local administrative jurisdiction over the tribe concerned. (i) Local Bureau unit means the Bureau office having local administrative jurisdiction over the tribe concerned. (j) Member means any person who is duly enrolled in a tribe, who meets a tribe's written criteria for membership, or is recognized as belonging to a tribe by the local Indians comprising that tribe. (k) Organized tribe means any tribe that has adopted a constitution outside of a Federal Statute. (l) Reorganized tribe means any tribe that has adopted a constitution pursuant to a Federal Statute. (m) Secretarial election means an election held within a tribe pursuant to regulations prescribed by the Secretary (as distinguished from tribal elections which are conducted under tribal authority (See Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe v. Andrus, 566 F.2d 1085 (8th Cir., 1977), cert. denied 439 U.S. 820 (1978)). (n) Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior or his/her authorized representative. (o) Spokesman for the petitioners means the authorized voter of a tribe initiating a petition or designated by the initiators of a petition to speak on their behalf. (p) Tribe means any Indian entity that is listed or is eligible to be listed in the The purpose of this part is to provide uniformity and order in the formulation and submission of petitions requesting the Secretary or the Commissioner to call elections to amend tribal constitutions, to issue charters pursuant to a Federal Statute, and for such other purposes where constitutions and charters provide for petitioning to effect action by the Secretary or Commissioner. The regulations in this part apply: (a) To any tribe which provides in its constitution for petitioning the Secretary or the Commissioner to call elections to amend the tribal constitution; (b) To any tribe whose constitution or charter provides for petitioning to effect any other action by the Secretary or Commissioner; and (c) To those tribal members at least 18 years of age who, pursuant to a Federal Statute, may wish to petition the Secretary to issue a charter to their tribe. All members eligible to vote in elections conducted by a tribe shall be entitled to sign petitions to effect actions by the Secretary or Commissioner within the scope of §82.2; provided, that where a tribe is reorganized pursuant to a Federal Statute, only persons eligible to register for Secretarial elections may petition. (a) The numerical sufficiency of any petition submitted pursuant to this part shall be based upon a number determined by the local Bureau official: (1) By consultation with the tribal governing body regarding the current number of tribal voters; or (2) For reorganized tribes, the number of members considered eligible to register for a Secretarial election and who are at least 18 years of age. (b) The number shall be made available to the spokesman for the petitioners upon request along with a cut-off date when, for purposes of the petition, no further names will be added. Petitions may consist of as many pages as are necessary to accommodate the signatures of the petitioners. However, each sheet of a petition must set forth at least a summary of the objectives of the petitioners and must show the date upon which the petition was signed by each individual as well as the current mailing address of each signer. (a) Signatures to a petition must be authenticated in one of the following ways: (1) Through having each signer subscribe or acknowledge his/her signature before a notary public; (2) Through having the collector of signatures appeal before a notary and sign, in his/her presence, on each sheet of the petition, a statement attesting that the signatures were affixed on the dates shown and by the individuals whose names appear thereon, and that to the best of his/her knowledge the signatories are eligible, entitled, or qualified voters. (b) Only an eligible, entitled, or qualified tribal voter shall be recognized as a valid collector of petition signatures. All petitions submitted pursuant to this part must be filed with the local Bureau official having administrative jurisdiction over the tribe. No petitions will be accepted until a spokesman for the petitioners declares that he/she wishes to make an official filing. Once a declaration of the official filing is made and the petition is given to the local Bureau official, that official shall immediately enter on the petition the date of receipt (this date becomes the date of official filing) and shall inform the spokesman for the petitioners that no additional signatures may be added and that no withdrawal of signatures will be permitted. The local Bureau official shall also acknowledge, in writing, receipt of the petition, indicating the exact number of signatures which are attached and the official filing date. Upon this written acknowledgment of the petition, the local Bureau official shall publicly post at the local Bureau unit serving the tribe a statement of the matter proposed in the petition. This statement shall remain posted for a period of 30 days from the official filing date. (a) Once an official filing has been made, the local Bureau official shall immediately have copies made of the petition and its signatures. The local Bureau official shall keep these copies at the Agency or field office for 15 days following the date of official filing, during which time they shall be available for examination by authorized voters of the tribe upon request. During this 15–day period, challenges of signatures may be filed with the local Bureau official. (b) Challenges will be considered on the following grounds: (1) Forgery of signatures; and (2) Lack of proper qualifications of a signer. No challenge will be considered which is not accompanied by supporting evidence in writing. In the event that an individual's name appears on a petition more than once, all but one of the names shall be stricken. (a) Within 30 days after the official filing date, the local Bureau official shall forward to the Area Director, or when the Area Director is the local Bureau official, directly to the Commissioner, the original of the petition and its accompanying signatures, together with recommendations concerning challenges and conclusions concerning: (1) The validity of the signatures; (2) The adequacy of the number of signatures; and (3) The propriety of the petitioning procedure. (b) The Area Director or the Commissioner, as the case may be, shall within 45 days after the official filing date decide upon each challenge and the sufficiency of the petition and announce whether the petition shall be acted upon. If a decision is reached that the petitioning action is for any reason insufficient, the spokesman for the petitioners and the governing body of the tribe will be so informed and given the reasons for the decision. If a petitioning action warrants action by the Secretary or Commissioner, the spokesman for the petitioners and the governing body of the tribe concerned will be so informed. The decision in such matters shall be final. The procedures for implementing any action initiated by the acceptance of a petition will be determined in accordance with pertinent directives and regulations. Any petition submitted under this part, shall be considered only for the purpose stated therein. Once a petition has been acted upon, it shall not be used again.
Title 25: Indians
PART 82—PETITIONING PROCEDURES FOR TRIBES REORGANIZED UNDER FEDERAL STATUTE AND OTHER ORGANIZED TRIBES
Section Contents
§ 82.1 Definitions.
§ 82.2 Purpose and scope.
§ 82.3 Applicability to tribal groups.
§ 82.4 Entitlement to petition.
§ 82.5 Sufficiency of a petition.
§ 82.6 Petition format.
§ 82.7 Notarization of petition signatures.
§ 82.8 Filing of petitions.
§ 82.9 Challenges.
§ 82.10 Action on the petition.
§ 82.11 Duration of petition.
§ 82.1 Definitions.
top
§ 82.2 Purpose and scope.
top
§ 82.3 Applicability to tribal groups.
top
§ 82.4 Entitlement to petition.
top
§ 82.5 Sufficiency of a petition.
top
§ 82.6 Petition format.
top
§ 82.7 Notarization of petition signatures.
top
§ 82.8 Filing of petitions.
top
§ 82.9 Challenges.
top
§ 82.10 Action on the petition.
top
§ 82.11 Duration of petition.
top
