New Mexico Court of Appeals Split Opinion Rules Tribal Sovereign Immunity Does Not Apply in Action to Declare Road Status on Tribal Fee Land
In a 2-1 opinion, the New Mexico Court of Appeals in Hamaatsa, Inc. v. Pueblo of San Felipe, 2013-NMCA- ___, No. 31,297 (July 23, 2013), took a very narrow view of tribal sovereign immunity and concluded equitable considerations of a non-tribal entity’s…
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New Mexico’s Domestic Well Statute is Ruled Constitutional
The New Mexico Supreme Court issued its opinion today in Bounds v. State of New Mexico ex rel. State Engineer, Nos. 32,713 & 32,717 (July 25, 2013), holding that the New Mexico Domestic Well Statute does not violate the New Mexico Constitution’s doctrine…
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New Mexico Court of Appeals Affirms Ruling that a Parcel Within the Former Fort Wingate Military Reservation is “Indian Country”
In State of New Mexico v. Steven B., No. 31,322 (N.M. Ct. App., April 1, 2013), the New Mexico Court of Appeals held that the State lacked criminal jurisdiction over a crime committed on Parcel Three of the former Fort Wingate Military…
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Affirming A State’s Sovereignty Over Its Allocated Water, Supreme Court Upholds Red River Compact
On Thursday, June 13, 2013, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion, authored by Justice Sotomayor, in Tarrant Regional Water District v. Hermann, ruling that the Red River Compact did not permit a Texas water district to acquire water from within Oklahoma’s sovereign…
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The Pueblo of Sandia’s Leasing Regulations and What Businesses Need to Do to Enter into Leases
The Pueblo of Sandia (“Pueblo”) was the first tribe in New Mexico, and the second in the United States, to receive approval by the Secretary of the Interior for its tribal leasing regulations promulgated under the Helping Expedite and Advance Responsible Tribal…
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Sandia Pueblo Regulations First in New Mexico to Be Approved Under HEARTH Act
Sandia Pueblo has become the first Indian tribe in New Mexico (and the second in the country) to receive approval of tribal regulations under the Helping Expedite and Advance Responsible Tribal Home Ownership (HEARTH) Act. The HEARTH Act authorizes tribes to enact regulations that,…
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