Legal Research

About Tribal Courts

Tribal Courts represent a unique legal system that works within the separate sovereignty of the Indian nations within the United States. The impact on using these courts in business investigations is considerable within the gaming industry. The key point here is that case information in tribal courts is NOT found in any level within the rest of the courts in the U.S.

Searching tribal courts is a must for any obvious Native American name. Also any particular cases which may be brought against any gambling facilities or casinos. These court systems encapsulate criminal, civil, summary judgments and similar cases. Below are several excellent sources to find tribal courts.

• National Tribal Justice Resource Center - www.tribalresourcecenter.org
• Tribal Court Clearinghouse - www.tribal-institute.org/index.htm
• A listing of Tribal Courts is also provided by www.versuslaw.com

(This tip is from Cynthia Hetherington's book  Business Background Investigations.)