View all text of Subchapter I [§ 1911 - § 1923]

§ 1918. Reassumption of jurisdiction over child cus­tody proceedings
(a) Petition; suitable plan; approval by Secretary
(b) Criteria applicable to consideration by Secretary; partial retrocession
(1) In considering the petition and feasibility of the plan of a tribe under subsection (a), the Secretary may consider, among other things:
(i) whether or not the tribe maintains a membership roll or alternative provision for clearly identifying the persons who will be affected by the reassumption of jurisdiction by the tribe;
(ii) the size of the reservation or former reservation area which will be affected by retrocession and reassumption of jurisdiction by the tribe;
(iii) the population base of the tribe, or distribution of the population in homogeneous communities or geographic areas; and
(iv) the feasibility of the plan in cases of multitribal occupation of a single reservation or geographic area.
(2) In those cases where the Secretary determines that the jurisdictional provisions of section 1911(a) of this title are not feasible, he is authorized to accept partial retrocession which will enable tribes to exercise referral jurisdiction as provided in section 1911(b) of this title, or, where appropriate, will allow them to exercise exclusive jurisdiction as provided in section 1911(a) of this title over limited community or geographic areas without regard for the reservation status of the area affected.
(c) Approval of petition; publication in Federal Register; notice; reassumption period; correction of causes for disapproval
(d) Pending actions or proceedings unaffected
(Pub. L. 95–608, title I, § 108, Nov. 8, 1978, 92 Stat. 3074.)