§3713 Indian agricultural lands trespass

Summary

Within one year after December 3, 1993, the Secretary must make rules for trespass on Indian farm lands. The rules must create civil penalties that require paying the value of any products taken plus a penalty equal to double those values, pay for damage to the land, and cover enforcement costs (like surveys, damage appraisals, investigations, court costs, and attorney fees). The rules must also say which part of the Interior Department will find and investigate trespasses and explain how penalties are figured and collected. Money collected under these rules will be treated as if it came from selling the farm products from the land where the trespass happened. Tribes that adopt the rules share enforcement power with the United States. Federal agencies must, if asked by a tribe, let the tribe handle prosecutions. Tribal court judgments on agricultural trespass must be accepted by Federal and State courts the same as a Federal court judgment, and nothing here reduces tribal sovereign authority over trespass.