SALEM, Ore.-Sole legal jurisdiction in civil matters on the Umatilla Indian Reservation has been returned to the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR).
“This proclamation represents the tangible work of reconciliation and affirming the sovereign status of tribal nations,” Gov. Tina Kotek said after signing a proclamation returning civil jurisdiction to the CTUIR on June 5. “This action restores the tribe’s independent power to administer justice.”
The State of Oregon had concurrent civil jurisdiction with the CTUIR on the Umatilla Reservation since Congress enacted Public Law -280 in 1953, which required some states, including Oregon to assume criminal jurisdiction and certain civil jurisdiction over tribal lands.
PL-280 allowed state law enforcement to operate on reservations without tribal consent and to prosecute crimes involving Native people in state courts.
According to the CTUIR, PL-280 also opened state courts to private civil disputes arising in Indian Country but did not grant states civil regulatory authority over tribes.
PL-280 was amended in 1968 to require tribal consent for any new state assumption of jurisdiction and to allow a state to return jurisdiction to the federal government through retrocession.
Oregon’s criminal jurisdiction over the CTUIR was retroceded in 1981, however, civil jurisdiction had remained in place, until Governor Kotek’s proclamation.
“Since the early 1980s, the CTUIR has exercised our criminal jurisdiction on our reservation by way of retrocession,” said N. Kathryn Brigham, CTUIR Board of Trustees Chair. “Four decades later, the state, under Gov. Tina Kotek, is retroceding civil jurisdiction back to the CTUIR, and we are extremely happy that it has come to fruition.”
Although a tribe has been able to request retrocession since 1968, the decision rested with the state, and Oregon lacked a specific process for carrying it out, according to the CTUIR.
During Oregon’s 2025 Legislative Session, the state Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 1011, a bipartisan sponsored bill creating a clear process for the retrocession of PL-280 jurisdiction.
“Strengthening tribal jurisdiction improves access to justice, public safety and our governmental ties with Oregon’s nine federally recognized tribal nations,” said Sen. Anthony Broadman, of Bend, chief sponsor of SB 1011.
Governor Kotek signed SB 1011 into law in May of 2025, and will now petition the U.S. Secretary of the Interior to accept the retrocession returning civil legal jurisdiction to the CTUIR.
“Moving forward, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, and all sovereign tribes utilizing this path, can continue to determine their destinies on their own terms,” said Governor Kotek.
