Title 25 — IndiansRelease 119-73
§231 Enforcement of State laws affecting health and education; entry of State employees on Indian lands
Title 25 › Chapter CHAPTER 6— - GOVERNMENT OF INDIAN COUNTRY AND RESERVATIONS › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— - GENERALLY › § 231
Summary
State agents may enter tribal lands under rules the Secretary of the Interior sets to inspect health and education and to enforce sanitation, quarantine, and school attendance. If a tribe has an official governing body, those school rules do not apply until that body agrees.
Full Legal Text
Title 25, §231
Indians — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
The Secretary of the Interior, under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe, shall permit the agents and employees of any State to enter upon Indian tribal lands, reservations, or allotments therein (1) for the purpose of making inspection of health and educational conditions and enforcing sanitation and quarantine regulations or (2) to enforce the penalties of State compulsory school attendance laws against Indian children, and parents, or other persons in loco parentis except that this subparagraph (2) shall not apply to Indians of any tribe in which a duly constituted governing body exists until such body has adopted a resolution consenting to such application.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Amendments
1946—Act Aug. 9, 1946, permitted proper State officers to invoke penalties of State compulsory school attendance against Indian children, their parents, or other persons in loco parentis.
Executive Documents
Transfer of Functions
For
Transfer of Functions
of other officers, employees, and agencies of Department of the Interior, with certain exceptions, to Secretary of the Interior, with power to delegate, see Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1950, §§ 1, 2, eff. May 24, 1950, 15 F.R. 3174, 64 Stat. 1262, set out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
25 U.S.C. § 231
Title 25 — Indians
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73