A Tribal court order can be formally recognized by the State of Alaska. When a Tribal court order is recognized by the State of Alaska, that order also becomes an Alaska State court order, which the state will enforce. This can be a powerful tool to empower Tribal court orders.
Getting state recognition will be necessary for some types of orders to be enforced. For example: changes of name or protective orders and child support orders for tribal members who do not live in the village.
For some types of orders, like adoptions, state recognition may be optional.
Other types of orders may only affect the local community and not need state recognition at all.
All states have rules for the recognition of Tribal court orders. While those specific rules are different, there are generally two different ways for Tribal court orders to be recognized: Full-Faith and Credit, and Comity.
Full-Faith and Credit
The U.S. Constitution requires states to give full-faith and credit to the court orders of another state. However, for Tribal court orders, states only have to give full-faith and credit when the U.S. Congress requires it. Currently, Congress requires states give full-faith and credit to the following types of Tribal court orders:
• Adoption
• Child Protection and child protection related matters
• Protective orders (such as domestic violence protective orders)
• Child Support Orders
While Alaska, and all U.S. States and territories, are required to give full-faith and credit to these Tribal orders, there are sometimes practical benefits to giving the state formal notice of them.
Giving an order full-faith and credit means that the state should treat the Tribal order exactly the same as an order from that state. For example, a domestic violence victim with a protective order from a Tribal court should be able to approach any police officer in the U.S.A. with that order and have it enforced.
In practice, things are not always that smooth. The officer approached might not be familiar with the Tribal court and the order might not appear in the officer’s searchable database. Maybe the officer doesn’t understand the structure and requirements of the order. Even if the order is recognized, the officer may feel they need to get approval from their superior before assisting (even if they don’t), and that can take time.
Because of barriers like these, it is sometimes helpful to get formal state recognition even of orders that are due full-faith and credit.
The different types of Tribal court orders that are owed full-faith and credit are not handled in the same way by Alaska State courts. Learn more about the different types of orders by selecting below:
Registering a protective order, such as a domestic violence protective order, with the State of Alaska can improve how the order is enforced. A registered order will be added to the State’s protection order database, meaning that state law enforcement officers should see that order in their computer systems. This can improve law enforcement responsiveness in an emergency.
AlaskaTribes recommends that Tribal Courts use Alaska Court form DV-215 to register protection orders with their local state court clerk by fax.
There are two different methods of implementing an adoption.
The first method is a “cultural adoption” using the State of Alaska Bureau of Vital Statistics’ cultural adoption packet. That makes the State of Alaska the custodian of the original adoption documents.
The second method is for the Tribal court to issue the adoption orders and be the custodian of the original adoption documents.
While the State of Alaska is obligated to give full-faith and credit to child support orders from tribes and other states, the practical path to getting an order enforced is registration. The Alaska Court system offers form DR-342, Petition to Register a Support Order from another State. This form should not be used for child custody orders, only for child support.
Alaska’s Child Support Services is required to treat a Tribal court child support order just as it would an order from any other state or federally recognized tribe. The agency now offers a Tribal Portal on it’s website that is intended to improve communication and coordination on child support cases. The phone number for Alaska Child Support Services’ main office in Anchorage is: 907-269-6900
Comity
When Congress does not require full-faith and credit, the State of Alaska uses a legal doctrine called “Comity” to recognize Tribal court orders. Western courts use the term comity to recognize court orders from other jurisdictions when certain conditions are met. The specific rules the State of Alaska follows for granting comity recognition to orders from federally recognized tribes are written out in the Alaska Court Rules at Alaska Civil Rule 5.4.
Any Tribal court order that is not entitled to full-faith and credit must request comity for Alaska state court recognition. That includes orders for:
- Change of name
- Divorce
- Marriage
- Probate
- and everything else
The Alaska Court System’s Self-Help center offers a FAQ about the process. When looking at that FAQ, bear in mind that the forms provided are not always clear about the distinction between full-faith and credit and comity. Also those forms are primarily intended for individuals who are trying to register an order, not Alaska Tribes that have a government to government relationship with the State of Alaska.
The State of Alaska regularly grants comity to many Tribal court orders. But each time a state judge must decide if comity is appropriate under state law.
What does Comity require?
When a state court judge decides whether to grant comity to a Tribal court order they look for the following things:
- Were the requirements of Alaska Civil Rule 5.4(a)-(d) followed?
- Did the Tribal court have jurisdiction?
- Were the parties notified of the Tribal court case?
- Were the parties granted due process by the Tribal court?
- Is recognizing the Tribal court order against the public policy of the State of Alaska?
To make comity recognition as smooth as possible, AlaskaTribes recommends that Tribal courts ensure that the written orders issued by their judges always document that the court had jurisdiction and what due process was provided by including:
- A finding that the court has jurisdiction over the case, and explaining why.
- Document how the parties were notified of the case and hearing
- Note which parties were present at the hearing where the facts were gathered and a decision was made
Practice tip – It is best practice to include these items in any court order.
For more information on drafting Tribal court orders, see our Drafting Tribal Court Orders page.