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Title 25, IndiansRelease 119-102

§7 Fees for Furnishing Certified Copies of Records

Title 25 › CHAPTER 1 — BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS › § 7

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Commissioner of Indian Affairs keeps the office seal and will give certified copies of records, books, maps, or papers from the office to anyone who follows the office rules and pays the fees. The charge is 10 cents per 100 words, $1 for maps or plats, plus 25 cents extra for the Commissioner’s certificate with the seal. The Commissioner must name one employee as the receiving clerk to collect the money, which is paid into the Treasury of the United States. No fees are charged to officers of any branch of the government, to any Indian who proves by legal evidence that they are too poor to pay, or for unverified copies the Commissioner decides to give free.

Full Legal Text

Title 25, §7

Indians, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

The Commissioner of Indian Affairs shall have the custody of said seal, and shall furnish certified copies of any such records, books, maps, or papers belonging to or on the files of said office, to any person applying therefor who shall comply with the requirements of said office, upon the payment by such parties at the rate of 10 cents per hundred words, and $1 for copies of maps or plats, and the additional sum of 25 cents for the Commissioner’s certificate of verification, with the seal of said office; and one of the employees of said office shall be designated by the Commissioner as the receiving clerk, and the amounts so received shall, under the direction of the Commissioner, be paid into the Treasury of the United States; but fees shall not be demanded for such authenticated copies as may be required by the officers of any branch of the Government or by any Indian who shall satisfy the Commissioner by satisfactory legal evidence that he or she is not able, by reason of poverty, to pay such fees, nor for such unverified copies as the Commissioner in his discretion may deem proper to furnish.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1972—Pub. L. 92–310 struck out provisions which required the receiving clerk to give a bond in the sum of $1,000.

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. § 7

Title 25, Indians

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102