How does a tribe apply to withdraw funds?

25 C.F.R. § 1200.13
in effectEffective: 2024-07-01
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To withdraw funds, a tribe must submit four copies of its application and the attachments listed in this section to: Director, Office of External Affairs, Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians, Department of the Interior, MS-5140, 1849 C Street NW., Washington, DC 20240. We will notify the tribe if the application is incomplete and will help the tribe complete the application if requested. When we determine that the application is complete, we will send copies to the appropriate agency superintendent and regional director, and to the Special Trustee and the Solicitor. Each application package must contain the items listed below. (a) Proof that the tribe has notified its members of its intent to remove funds from trust and that, when the request is approved, the tribe and not the United States Government will be liable for funds management. Notification must be by the method(s) that the tribe customarily uses to notify its members of significant tribal actions. The notification must identify the specific funds to be withdrawn. (b) A tribal resolution that: (1) Expressly authorizes the withdrawal of the funds and indicates the (approximate) dollar amount of the funds to be withdrawn; (2) Expressly acknowledges that the funds, once withdrawn in accordance with the Act, will no longer be held in trust status by the United States, and that we have no further liability or responsibility for the funds; and (3) Acknowledges that: (i) Neither we nor the tribe necessarily accept the account balances at the time of withdrawal as accurate; and (ii) Neither we nor the tribe have waived any rights regarding the balances, including the right to seek compensation for incorrect balances. (c) A copy of a formal agreement between the tribe and the manager of the funds to be withdrawn, in which the manager agrees to: (1) Comply with the terms of the plan we approve under § 1200.15 and make only those changes that conform to revision procedures in the approved plan and the requirements of § 1200.19; and (2) Transfer funds to the tribe or another manager only after receiving a valid tribal resolution calling for this transfer and proof that the tribe has notified its members of intent to transfer the funds. The resolution must clearly state that: (i) The funds are being withdrawn to be reinvested by the tribe in a manner consistent with the goals and strategies of the approved plan; and (ii) The fund managers will continue to follow any previously approved distribution plan conditions. (d) A legal opinion by the tribe's attorney or its general counsel that: (1) The resolution referred to in paragraph (b) of this section was enacted under procedures established by the tribe's organic documents or oral tradition; (2) The tribal governing body has the legal authority to withdraw funds from trust status and that the withdrawal does not require a referendum vote or other procedure beyond a tribal council resolution; and (3) If the funds to be withdrawn are judgment or settlement funds, that the tribe's plan for managing the funds meets the requirements of any applicable judgment fund use and distribution plan or settlement act. (e) The results of a tribal referendum, if one was held. (f) If the funds to be withdrawn are judgment or settlement funds, a copy of the act and/or plan that sets out the conditions for the uses of the funds or income from them. (g) A management plan as provided for in § 1200.14.

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