S 1574

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IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

May 1, 2025

Ms. Cortez Masto (for herself and Mr. Rounds) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To amend the Stored Communications Act to include Tribal courts as courts of competent jurisdiction.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the “Tribal Access to Electronic Evidence Act”.

SEC. 2. TRIBAL COURTS AS COURTS OF COMPETENT JURISDICTION UNDER STORED COMMUNICATIONS ACT.

(a) Definitions.—Section 2711 of title 18, United States Code, is amended—

(1) in paragraph (3)—

(A) in subparagraph (B), by striking “or” at the end;

(B) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as subparagraph (D); and

(C) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the following:

“(C) a Tribal court; or”; and

(2) by striking paragraph (4) and inserting the following:

“(4) the term ‘governmental entity’ means a department or agency of—

“(A) the United States;

“(B) any State or political subdivision thereof; or

“(C) any Indian Tribe or political subdivision thereof;

“(5) the term ‘Indian Tribe’ means any Indian or Alaska Native tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village, community, component band, or component reservation individually identified (including parenthetically) on the most recent list published by the Secretary of the Interior under section 104 of the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131); and

“(6) the term ‘Tribal court’ means a court of general criminal jurisdiction of an Indian Tribe authorized by the law of that Indian Tribe to issue search warrants.”.

(b) Required Disclosure of Customer Communications or Records.— Section 2703 of title 18, United States Code, is amended—

(1) in subsection (a), by striking the first sentence and inserting the following:

“(1) In storage 180 days or less.—A governmental entity may require the disclosure by a provider of electronic communication service of the contents of a wire or electronic communication, that is in electronic storage in an electronic communications system for 180 days or less, only pursuant to a warrant issued by a court of competent jurisdiction—

“(A) issued using the procedures described in the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure;

“(B) in the case of a State court, issued using State warrant procedures;

“(C) in the case of a court-martial or other proceeding under chapter 47 of title 10 (the Uniform Code of Military Justice), issued under section 846 of that title, in accordance with regulations prescribed by the President); or

“(D) in the case of a Tribal court, issued using the warrant procedures described in section 202(a)(2) of Public Law 90-284 (commonly known as the ‘Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968’) (25 U.S.C. 1302(a)(2)).

“(2) In storage more than 180 days.—”;

(2) in subsection (b)(1)—

(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking “using the procedures described in the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure” and all that follows through “prescribed by the President)” and inserting “in accordance with subsection (a)(1)”; and

(B) in subparagraph (B)(i), by inserting “, Tribal,” after “a Federal” each place it appears; and

(3) in subsection (c)—

(A) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking “using the procedures described in the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure” and all that follows through “prescribed by the President)” and inserting “in accordance with subsection (a)(1)”; and

(B) in paragraph (2), in the undesignated matter following subparagraph (F), by inserting “, Tribal,” after “a Federal” each place it appears.

(c) Delayed Notice.—Section 2705(a)(1)(B) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting “, Tribal,” after “a Federal” each place it appears.

(d) Civil Action.—Section 2707(g) of title 18, United States Code, is amended, in the second sentence, by inserting “Tribal,” after “State,”.

(e) Wrongful Disclosure of Video Tape Rental or Sale Records.— Section 2710 of title 18, United States Code, is amended—

(1) in subsection (b)(2)(C), by inserting after “an equivalent State warrant,” the following: “a warrant issued by a Tribal court using the warrant procedures described in section 202(a)(2) of Public Law 90-284 (commonly known as the ‘Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968’) (25 U.S.C. 1302(a)(2)),”; and

(2) in subsection (d), by striking “or a political subdivision of a State” and inserting “a political subdivision of a State, or an Indian Tribe”. <all>