CHAPTER 1-4
AMENDMENT OF CODE(chapter amendments adopted effective 9/14/99)
§ 1-4-1 Definitions
(a) "BIA-NIA" means the North Idaho Agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
(b) "OLC" means the Office of Legal Counsel of the Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee.
(c) "Subcommittee" means the Law and Order Subcommittee of the Nez Perce Tribe.
§ 1-4-2 Amendment Process
(a) A proposed amendment to the Nez Perce Tribal Code shall be in writing and presented to the OLC. Any proposed amendment shall include:
(1) the reason for the proposed amendment;
(2) the specific action the proponent wishes the Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee (NPTEC) to take on the amendment; and
(3) the code sections which would be amended (each numbered) or a statement that the amendment would create new sections.
(b) Upon receipt of the amendment, the OLC shall research the code and other applicable laws to determine if conflicting provisions exist. Upon completion of this review, the OLC shall submit the amendment to the subcommittee along with OLC comments including the identification of any conflicting code provisions or other laws and any appropriate legislative history.
(c) Following receipt of the proposed amendment and comments from the OLC, the subcommittee shall determine whether the amendment is meritorious. If so, at least fifteen (15) business days prior to subcommittee action on the proposed amendment, it shall post in a conspicuous location in Lapwai, Kamiah, and Orofino:
(1) a statement of the purpose and effect of the intended action;
(2) the text of the proposal;
(3) those provisions of the code which would be repealed by the proposed amendment, if any;
(4) that written comments may be submitted over the next fifteen (15) business days to the chairman of the subcommittee; and
(5) that any comments submitted after the close of the fifteen (15) day comment period will not be considered in subcommittee or NPTEC action on the proposed amendment.
(d) The subcommittee shall determine whether to hold a public hearing on the amendment. Such determination may be based upon the potential controversy related to the proposal or whenever the subcommittee otherwise determines that additional public input would be useful and constructive. If a hearing is to be held, the subcommittee shall post in a conspicuous location in Lapwai, Kamiah and Orofino:
(1) a statement of the purpose and effect of the intended action;
(2) the text of the proposal;
(3) those provisions of the code which would be repealed by the proposed amendment, if any;
(4) that on a specified date not sooner than fifteen (15) business days from the time of posting, a hearing will take place at a specified location for the purpose of taking public comment; and
(5) that the comment period on the proposed amendment will be extended until the end of the hearing.
(e) The public comment provisions of this chapter shall not apply when the subcommittee determines that a proposed amendment is an interpretive rule, general statement of policy, or rule which addresses the internal management of the Nez Perce Tribe so long as such a rule does not substantially affect the legal rights of, or procedures available to, the public or any segment thereof.
(1) No resolution is necessary to enact an amendment if the amendment is made to correct a non-substantive clerical or typographical error. (NPTEC authorized addition of section July 9, 2002).
(f) After the end of the comment period, if any, the subcommittee shall work with the OLC to produce an acceptable draft of the amendment by incorporating any comments determined to be meritorious by the subcommittee and any subcommittee directives and converting the proposed amendment into the appropriate code and resolution format.
(g) Once an acceptable draft is produced, the subcommittee shall present it to NPTEC along with a summary of written public comments, the public hearing record, if any, and its own recommendations and/or comments related to the proposed amendment.
(h) Following presentation of the amendment to NPTEC, it shall approve, reject or re-submit the amendment to the subcommittee with further instructions. NPTEC shall make the final determination of any matter related to the amendment including whether public comment must be provided or whether to hold a public hearing.
(i) Following approval of an amendment by NPTEC, NPTEC staff shall present it to the office of the superintendent of the BIA-NIA for review as provided in the Constitution and By-Laws of the Nez Perce Tribe Art. VIII, Section 3.
(j) Following the enactment of an amendment, NPTEC staff shall:
(1) index it by both recording the resolution number and placing a copy of the resolution in the annual indexes;
(2) post in a conspicuous location in Lapwai, Kamiah and Orofino a copy of the final amendment. The amendment shall also be listed in the NPTEC minutes mailed to tribal members.
(k) Within twenty (20) business days following receipt of the adopted amendment from NPTEC staff, the OLC shall submit pre-codification notices to a pre-determined list of individuals who have copies of the code and have requested updates. Actual codification shall be conducted annually, according to a schedule determined by the subcommittee.
§ 1-4-3 Emergencies
(a) The regular amendment process shall not apply when NPTEC determines that prompt action is necessary for the preservation of life, health, property, order or natural resources. Emergency amendments may only be proposed by NPTEC, the NPTEC chairman or the subcommittee and shall be submitted to the OLC.
(b) The OLC shall research the code and other applicable law to determine if conflicting provisions exist. Following OLC review, it shall present the amendment to the subcommittee along with OLC comments, any conflicting code provisions, appropriate legislative history and the rationale for an emergency amendment. If necessary, the NPTEC chairman may direct that an emergency amendment be submitted directly to NPTEC without subcommittee review.
(c) Following presentation of the emergency amendment to the subcommittee, it shall work with the OLC to produce an acceptable draft of the amendment by incorporating any subcommittee directives and converting the proposed amendment into the appropriate code and resolution format.
(d) Once an acceptable draft is produced, the subcommittee shall present it to NPTEC along with any recommendations and/or comments related to the proposed amendment. Emergency amendments shall be reviewed by NPTEC following receipt of the amendment from the subcommittee. If necessary, the NPTEC chairman may call a special NPTEC meeting for this purpose. During such review, NPTEC shall adopt, reject or return the amendment to the subcommittee with further modifications and/or instructions.
(e) Following approval of an emergency amendment by NPTEC, NPTEC staff shall present it to the office of the superintendent of the BIA-NIA for review as provided in the Constitution and By-Laws of the Nez Perce Tribe Art. VIII, Section 3.
(f) Following enactment of an emergency amendment, NPTEC staff shall:
(1) index the amendment by both recording the resolution number and placing a copy of the resolution in the annual indexes in a separate section designated and labeled specifically for emergency amendments;
(2) post in a conspicuous location in Lapwai, Orofino and Kamiah a copy of the amendment. If possible, the amendment shall also be listed in the NPTEC minutes mailed to tribal members. Posting of emergency amendments shall clearly provide that such an amendment is an emergency, include the rationale for the emergency rule.
(g) An emergency amendment shall be effective immediately for a period of not longer than ninety (90) business days thereafter unless during that time it is enacted as a regular amendment pursuant to this chapter.
§ 1-4-4 Time Line/Coordination
The time period from the initial submission of a proposed amendment to the OLC to posting and indexing of an enacted amendment shall not exceed ninety (90) business days for regularly adopted amendments and shall not exceed forty (40) business days for emergency amendments. The chairman of the subcommittee shall ultimately be responsible for the oversight, enforcement and coordination of the procedures under this chapter.
§ 1-4-5 Elimination of BIA Review
In the event the Constitution and By-Laws of the Nez Perce Tribe are amended to eliminate BIA review and approval of amendments to the code, the provisions related to such review and approval in this chapter are hereby repealed and all amendments shall be enacted upon approval by NPTEC.
§ 1-4-6 Hearings
(a) All available members of the subcommittee shall attend hearings scheduled for the purpose of taking both oral and written public comment on proposed amendments.
(b) The chairman of the subcommittee shall preside over the proceedings. During the hearing the chairman shall:
(1) call upon each individual in the order provided on the registration list to present his testimony;
(2) limit each speaker to the amount of time that the chairman determines is appropriate and announced at the beginning of the proceedings;
(3) direct questions presented to the speakers by members of the subcommittee and questions presented to members of the subcommittee or NPTEC staff by speakers;
(4) designate appropriate staff to be present at the hearing to assist in answering questions from speakers.
(c) Written comments shall be presented to the chairman of the subcommittee following the hearing. Such comments shall be presented to NPTEC at the time of NPTEC review of the proposed amendment.