This second edition (2020 update) of an Annotated Directory of Tribal-State Court Forums intends to facilitate a sharing of information among tribal-state court.
Tribal and state courts interact on many issues, including child welfare, enforcement of court orders, and civil commitments; however, tribal and state courts may disagree on jurisdictional issues, which can impede constructive action on matters that are important for both jurisdictions. Tribal-state court forums provide a structure for judges and court personnel to meet for the purposes of fostering professional relationships and discussing mutual concerns, such as legislative initiatives and ways to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the interaction of tribal-state court jurisdictions in joint matters. There are several themes common to the forums in this directory. First, they typically developed because one or two people wanted to address difficult problems related to jurisdictional issues and their cooperation. Several of the forums in the directory have cooperated to create training materials and opportunities to form tribal-state agreements. The forums profiled in the Directory are Arizona, California, Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin. Kansas. Nebraska, Oregon, and Washington are new to this edition of the Directory.