Statutes | 10 GTBC ยง 403 | 2020
(a) Statement of Jurisdiction. The Tribal Court shall have jurisdiction over juvenile offender proceedings, if the juvenile is:
(1) A member of the Tribe and
(A) The alleged offense occurred on Tribal land or
(B) The juveniles primary residence is on Tribal lands and the juvenile commits an offense while on a Tribally sponsored trip off Tribal lands or
(C) Unless and until the Court transfers jurisdiction to the Adult Division of the Court, pursuant to § 414 of this Code or
(2) Not eligible for membership in the Tribe but whose primary residence is on Tribal land and the alleged offense occurred on Tribal land or on a Tribally sponsored trip off Tribal land.
(b) Transfers From State Courts. The Tribal Court may accept transfers of cases from state courts if the alleged juvenile offender is a Tribal member and resides on Tribal lands.
(c) Transfers To State Courts. Upon the request of a parent or guardian, the Tribal Court may transfer a case to a state court if the alleged offense occurred on Tribal land, the alleged juvenile offender is a member of the Tribe or is eligible for Tribal membership, and the state court is willing to accept transfer.
(d) Community Problem. The Tribal Court shall have jurisdiction over all members of the family or household who are a part of the problem or who may be a part of the solution to the problem.
(e) Adjudication Classification. No adjudication of the status of any child under the jurisdiction of the Court shall be deemed criminal, unless the Court refers the matter to the Adult Division of Court.
(f) Closed Proceedings. Juvenile proceedings shall be closed to the general public to protect the privacy interests of the parties. Disposition of any juvenile proceeding, and evidence presented at such proceedings, shall not be admissible as evidence against the child in any other proceeding heard by another division of the Tribal Court system, except when the evidence is discovered by independent means.
(g) Authority to Cooperate. The Court is authorized to cooperate with any court or federal, state, tribal, public, or private agency to participate in any diversion, rehabilitation, training programs, or other service programs and to receive grants-in-aid to carry out the purposes of this code.
(h) Least Restrictive Alternative. The least restrictive alternative applies to all disposition actions taken by the Court under this Code.
(i) Court Records.
(1) A record of all hearings under this Code shall be made and preserved.
(2) All Court records shall be confidential, and shall only be open to inspection by the following:
(A) The juvenile or his legal representative or advocate
(B) The juveniles parent(s), guardian, custodians, or their legal representatives or advocates.
(C) The Prosecuting Attorney.
(j) Law Enforcement Records.
(1) Law enforcement records and files concerning juveniles shall be kept separate from records and files of adults.
(2) All law enforcement records and files shall be confidential, and shall only be open to inspection by the following:
(A) The juvenile or his legal representative or advocate
(B) The juveniles parent(s), guardian, custodian, or their legal representative or advocate
(C) The Tribal Prosecutor
(D) The Tribal Juvenile Justice Officer and
(E) The Tribal Probation Officer.
(k) Expungement. When a juvenile who has been the subject of any proceeding before the Court, other than those delinquency adjudications related to sexual offenses that count as convictions and require the offender to be registered as a sex offender as described in Section 42 U.S.C. § 16911(8), or in proceedings in which the juvenile has been tried as an adult under 10 GTBC § 414 and convicted, attains his or her twenty-first (21st) birthday, the Court shall destroy both the Court and law enforcement records relating to that juvenile.
(l) Contempt of Court.
(1) Willful disobedience of, or willful interference with, an order of the Court constitutes contempt of court.
(2) The Court may punish an adult for contempt of court with a fine not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500.00), a jail term not to exceed thirty (30)days, or both.
(3) A juvenile may be punished for contempt of court with extension of probation, additional probation conditions, a fine not to exceed three hundred dollars ($300.00), a jail term or detention not to exceed one (1) week or any combination thereof.
(m) Medical Examination. The Court may order a psychiatric or psychological examination of a juvenile who is alleged to be a juvenile offender if issues of competence to stand trial or insanity are raised by the defense, or for any other reason that the Court deems appropriate. Reports shall be available to the defense and prosecuting attorney.
(n) Fingerprints. If latent fingerprints are found during the investigation of a offense and a law enforcement officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the fingerprints are those of a juvenile in custody, the officer may fingerprint the juvenile for the purpose of immediate comparison with the latent fingerprints provided that the law enforcement officials have obtained the written approval of the Court prior to the taking of prints. Copies of the fingerprints shall be immediately destroyed if the comparison is negative or if a petition is not filed against the juvenile.
(o) Appeal.
(1) For purposes of appeal, a record of the proceedings shall be made available to the juvenile, the juveniles parent(s), guardian, custodian or legal representative. The party seeking the appeal shall pay costs of obtaining this record.
(2) Any party to a Court hearing may appeal a final order or disposition of a case by filing a written notice of appeal with the Court within twenty-eight (28) days of the final order of disposition.
(3) All appeals shall be conducted in accordance with applicable Tribal Codes and Court Rules.
History: Juvenile Code, adopted by Tribal Council in Special Session on January 13, 1999 as amended by Tribal Council October 1, 1999 as amended by Tribal Act #08-26.1987, enacted by Tribal Council on December 17, 2008 and by Tribal Council motion, enacted December 20, 2017.