Opinion | MATTHEW JOHNSON, Tribal Court Director
The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) has a constitutional democratic government system with functions serving enrolled CTUIR members, as well as citizens of other Indian tribes and non-Indians who reside on the Umatilla Indian Reservation (UIR).
The CTUIR government funds and operates a system that includes health care, social services, economic development, public works, planning, housing and a wide range of other functions that are typically associated with either states or the federal government. This includes a judiciary, which is carried out by the Umatilla Tribal Court.
Within the justice system of the UIR, the Tribal Court exercises criminal and civil jurisdiction. Criminal jurisdiction covers enrolled CTUIR members, Indian people who are enrolled with other tribes, as well as non-Indians who are alleged to have committed certain domestic violence offenses. Criminal jurisdiction is concurrent with the federal government. For civil matters, which can be anything from zoning to personal injury cases or landlord-tenant matters to taxation or probate to air quality, to name but a few, CTUIR’s jurisdiction is concurrent with the state of Oregon. This is due to a law passed by the United States in the 1950s known as Public Law 280.
Enacted in 1953, PL-280 required certain states, such as Oregon, to assume criminal and civil jurisdiction over tribal lands. This law authorized state law enforcement to operate on reservations without tribal consent, prosecuting Native and non-Native individuals in state courts. No federal funding was provided to support states in this role, which strained state resources.
Retrocession is the action of ceding territory and/or jurisdiction back to a government. In 1968, Congress amended PL-280 to allow states to return jurisdiction to tribes or the federal government through retrocession, which tribes could request when they determined they were ready to do so. However, states lacked a specific process for this.
Senate Bill 1011, which the CTUIR helped draft and advocate for during the 2025 Oregon Legislative Session, establishes a clear statutory process for the retrocession of PL-280 jurisdiction. Prior to the bill, decisions on retrocession were being made on a case-by-case basis. This created uncertainty for tribes pursuing jurisdictional restoration as well as the states from which they requested it. The bill had bipartisan sponsorship and passed unanimously in the Senate on March 31, 2025, and in the House on May 14, 2025. Gov. Tina Kotek signed the bill into law that more clearly outlines and helps restore criminal and civil jurisdiction for most Oregon tribes during a Nov. 18 ceremony as part of Legislative Days at the Oregon Capitol.
The CTUIR Board of Trustees approved Resolution No. 25-081 during its Nov. 10 meeting, which, along with an accompanying letter, formally requested retrocession of PL-280 civil jurisdiction from the state of Oregon. The governor had to acknowledge receipt of the request within 10 days of receipt, and within 90 days, convene a meeting with CTUIR representatives to discuss the request, including but not limited to the implications and logistics of retrocession. Once that meeting has occurred, then the governor has to accept or deny the request and notify the requesting tribe of her decision within 180 days. If the governor accepts, she must petition the U.S. Secretary of the Interior regarding retrocession within 10 days after her decision for final approval.
The CTUIR has been exercising its constitutional jurisdiction since 1980, but has exercised its sovereign authority on, with and for its people and land since time immemorial. Given this deep connection between the land and the people of the CTUIR and the many ways in which the CTUIR government exercises contemporary government functions, the retrocession of civil jurisdiction by the state of Oregon to the CTUIR is hopefully nothing more than an imminent formality.
