United States Attorney's Office 
Western District of Washington 
Crimes in Indian Country

The Tribal Liaison Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) is the primary prosecutor for general crime cases committed on reservation land. These cases range from tribal embezzlement to murder, with a large caseload of violent and sexual assaults. The FBI works with tribal police in federal investigations on tribal lands where there is federal jurisdiction. The FBI recently increased their resources to cover Indian Country. While all agents can work Indian cases, these agents are assigned to Indian Country exclusively.
 
In addition to prosecuting cases in Indian Country the Tribal Liaison spends significant time on non-case-related matters: 

*Tribal hunting, wood-gathering, and, occasionally, shell fishing treaty rights, in conjunction with the tribes, State and federal agencies, and law enforcement;
 
*Researching and answering gaming questions from the tribes;
 
*Working on a tribal-court project, including a proposed magistrate-judge court for reservations;
 
*Responding to jurisdictional inquiries from DOI on "in-lieu" fishing sites (along the Columbia River), as well as meeting and formulating strategies for effective law enforcement on the sites;
 
*Contacting and working with counties (sheriffs and prosecutors) and tribes concerning State jurisdiction on reservations, including writing an amicus brief to the State Supreme Court;
 
*Meeting and reporting on Indian County Investigative Service (ICIS) concept from DOJ--three meetings in the District with all tribes invited; 
*Working with Tribes on issues of jurisdiction pending retrocession;
 
*Working with the Governor's Office, the Washington Department of Community Development, the Washington State Attorney General's Office and a number of Tribes and County Prosecutors to develop an on-going multi-jurisdictional training effort to improve tribal and non-tribal relationships.
 
*Working with the State Judicial Commission on a manual and several area trainings on domestic violence in rural and tribal areas, including preparing a section on tribal laws and courts, protection orders, tribal due process, comity between tribal courts and local courts, and federal domestic violence laws;
 
A special problem in Western Washington concerns crimes which occur on the 22 recognized tribal reservations within the District. As a result of Public Law 280, passed in 1953, and the way the State of Washington implemented the power to assume jurisdiction, the jurisdictional issues in Indian Country can be complex and confusing.
 
Tribal courts have criminal jurisdiction over Indians, concurrent with State or federal jurisdiction. The tribal courts are limited in the length of possible sentence. The State has criminal jurisdiction over (1) the operation of motor vehicles on public roads and highways; (2) juvenile delinquency; (3) fee patent lands on reservations; (4) all crimes committed by non-Indians; and (5) all Indian lands outside the borders of established reservations, including the several dozen "public domain" allotments. Pursuant to Washington State’s version of Public Law 280, individual tribes may petition for full State jurisdiction over "Indians when on their tribal or allotted lands within an established Indian reservation." Three tribes have full State jurisdiction under this rule, although two have requested retrocession to federal jurisdiction. Three new reservations created after 1968 are under complete federal jurisdiction. On the other reservations, federal courts have jurisdiction over "Indians when on their tribal allotted lands..." and on some of their lands acquired since enactment of PL 280. 

Another challenge the office faces in serving Indian communities is gambling-related crime, particularly fraud-related gambling crime. In the past year, the office has also prosecuted numerous cases involving sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. As a result, the office has received a temporary AUSA position to deal with these cases.