[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 25, Volume 1]
[Revised as of April 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 25CFR13.1]

[Page 60]
 
                            TITLE 25--INDIANS
 
     CHAPTER I--BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
 
PART 13--TRIBAL REASSUMPTION OF JURISDICTION OVER CHILD CUSTODY PROCEEDINGS--Table of Contents
 
                           Subpart A--Purpose
 
Sec. 13.1  Purpose.


    (a) The regulations of this part establish the procedures by which 
an Indian tribe that occupies a reservation as defined in 25 U.S.C. 
1903(10) over which a state asserts any jurisdiction pursuant to the 
provisions of the Act of August 15, 1953 (67 Stat. 588) Pub. L. 83-280, 
or pursuant to any other federal law (including any special federal law 
applicable only to a tribe or tribes in Oklahoma), may reassume 
jurisdiction over Indian child custody proceedings as authorized by the 
Indian Child Welfare Act, Pub. L. 95-608, 92 Stat. 3069, 25 U.S.C. 1918.
    (b) On some reservations there are disputes concerning whether 
certain federal statutes have subjected Indian child custody proceedings 
to state jurisdiction or whether any such jurisdiction conferred on a 
state is exclusive of tribal jurisdiction. Tribes located on those 
reservations may wish to exercise exclusive jurisdiction or other 
jurisdiction currently exercised by the state without the necessity of 
engaging in protracted litigation. The procedures in this part also 
permit such tribes to secure unquestioned exclusive, concurrent or 
partial jurisdiction over Indian child custody matters without 
relinquishing their claim that no Federal statute had ever deprived them 
of that jurisdiction.
    (c) Some tribes may wish to join together in a consortium to 
establish a single entity that will exercise jurisdiction over all their 
members located on the reservations of tribes participating in the 
consortium. These regulations also provide a procedure by which tribes 
may reassume jurisdiction through such a consortium.
    (d) These regulations also provide for limited reassumptions 
including jurisdiction restricted to cases transferred from state courts 
under 25 U.S.C. 1911(b) and jurisdiction over limited geographical 
areas.
    (e) Unless the petition for reassumption specifically states 
otherwise, where a tribe reassumes jurisdiction over the reservation it 
occupies, any land or community occupied by that tribe which 
subsequently acquires the status of reservation as defined in 25 U.S.C. 
1903(10) also becomes subject to tribal jurisdiction over Indian child 
custody matters.