Statutes | Blackfeet Tribal Law and Order Code, Chapt. 1, ยง 1 | 2019
(See Clarification of this Section in Preface).
The Blackfeet Tribal Court shall have jurisdiction over all offenses enumerated in Chapter 5, when committed by an Indian (person) as defined by this Section , within the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. With respect to any of the offenses enumerated in Chapter 5, over which federal or state courts may have lawful jurisdiction, the jurisdiction of the Court shall be concurrent and not exclusive. It shall be the duty of said Court to order delivery to the proper authorities of the State or Federal Government or of any other tribe or reservation for prosecution, any offender, there to be dealt with according to law or regulations authorized by law, where such authorities consent to exercise jurisdiction lawfully vested in them over the said offender. The Blackfeet Tribal Court is a court of "limited jurisdiction". This means that the Court can handle certain types of cases, but cannot handle other types. In order to know whether the Court can handle any particular criminal cases, it is necessary first to know where the offense took place, who is said to have committed the offense, and what offense is charged.
Where: The Blackfeet Tribal Court has jurisdiction over matters arising on land within the exterior boundaries of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. In addition to trust lands belonging to the Tribe or to individual Indians, this includes fee patented lands, townsites, roads and other right-of-ways, and tracts reserved for school, agency or other governmental purposes.
Who: The Blackfeet Tribal Court has jurisdiction over all persons of Indian descent who are members of the Blackfeet Tribe of Montana and over all other American Indians unless its authority is restricted by an Order of the Secretary of the Interior. The Court does not have jurisdiction over non-Indians or over Indians from Canada. An Indian subject to the jurisdiction of the Blackfeet Tribal Court, including members of the Blackfeet Tribe, who also is employed in the Bureau of Indian Affairs, has a right to appeal from any sentence of the Court to the Secretary of the Interior, and the sentence if so appealed, does not become effective until approved by the Secretary.
What Crimes: The Federal Courts have jurisdiction over the so called "ten major crimes" murder, manslaughter, rape, incest, assault with Intent to kill, assault with a dangerous weapon, arson, burglary, robbery, larceny, and carnal knowledge and the Federal offenses, such as counterfeiting, mail fraud, etc. As a practical matter, the Federal authorities sometimes turn over to Tribal authorities cases of aggravated assault or petty larceny.
The Blackfeet Tribal Court has exclusive jurisdiction over all crimes set forth in Chapter 5 of the Blackfeet Law and Order Code, which are fitted by an Indian, as defined above, against another Indian within the Blackfeet Reservation. These crimes nay not be tried in any court other than the Tribal Court. The Blackfeet Tribal Court has concurrent jurisdiction over all offenses within the Blackfeet Reservation, other than the ten major crimes, committed by an Indian against a non-Indian or an Indian from Canada. What "concurrent" means, very simply, is that the Federal Court and the Tribal Court both have power to try an offense by an Indian against a non-Indian. Specifically, if the Federal authorities consent to take such a case prior to conviction in the Tribal Court, the Tribal Judge, must deliver the accused to the Government for prosecution and all proceedings in the Tribal Court then stop. If the accused already has been punished in the Tribal Court on the other hand, the Federal authorities are prohibited form prosecuting him again.
Other cases:
A non-Indian who commits an offense against an Indian within the boundaries of the Blackfeet Reservation is punishable in Federal Court in accord with either the general laws of the United States or State Law, depending upon the circumstances. A non-Indian who car, its a crime against another non-Indian is, of course, punishable in State Court. A member of the Blackfeet Tribe who commits a crime of any nature outside the Reservation is subject to the law of the jurisdiction in which the offense occurs.