What does the Tribal-State Judicial Consortium do?

Provide Information

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Judge William Johnson, the Consortium's Tribal Co-Chair and presiding at Isleta Pueblo Appellate Court, accepts the award from the NJCA representative on behalf of the New Mexico Tribal-State Judicial Consortium.

Are you considering a custody case involving an Indian child? Do orders of protection or child support orders from other jurisdictions come to your court for enforcement? Did another area’s law enforcement officers pursue a suspect into your jurisdiction? Issues like these – crossing jurisdictions – are the focus of the New Mexico Tribal-State Judicial Consortium. By establishing local relationships and communications between the Courts, conflicts and cases can better be resolved.

Develop Relationships

Quarterly Consortium meetings offer briefings by subject matter experts who can address situations involving cross-jurisdictional issues, such as extradition, and provide an opportunity for discussion among Tribal and State Judges about issues and cases generally. The Consortium also promotes relationships and communications by conducting regional training events to help the Courts learn more about the challenges they encounter and begin working together to address them. It also provides opportunities for Tribal Judges to attend State judicial conferences.

Collaborate

Growing out of a subcommittee of the Court Improvement Project on child welfare several years ago, the Consortium was formally recognized by the New Mexico Supreme Court as one of its advisory committees in 2006.  Equal numbers of Tribal and State Judges represent the various Pueblos, Tribes, and levels of New Mexico Courts on the Consortium.  These fourteen members, with the assistance of three alternate members, offer a forum to help raise awareness among the Courts about jurisdictional matters. 

Brief biographies on these individuals can be found on the "Members" page.

Outreach

The Consortium is currently concentrating on projects involving the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), full faith and credit/comity, and improving outreach and communications with the Courts. Anyone interested in Tribal/State collaboration is welcome to attend our meetings. We hope to smooth and streamline connections between the Courts and criminal justice partners on both sides. The Consortium has been recognized for its efforts in outreach and collaboration by the National Criminal Justice Association.