§3713 Indian Agricultural Lands Trespass

Summary

The Secretary must make rules within one year after December 3, 1993, to handle trespass on Indian agricultural lands. The rules must make trespassers pay the value of products taken plus a penalty equal to twice that value, pay for damage to the land, and pay enforcement costs (like surveys, appraisals, investigations, witness, court, and attorney fees). The rules must also say which part of the Interior Department will detect and investigate trespass and how penalties will be assessed and collected. Money collected counts as proceeds from selling the affected agricultural products. If a tribe adopts the rules, it can enforce them alongside the United States. Federal agencies will, at a tribe’s request, defer to tribal prosecutions. Tribal court judgments about agricultural trespass must be treated the same as federal court judgments in federal and state courts. The rules do not reduce tribal authority over trespass.