S. 1574

90 S1574 IS: Tribal Access to Electronic Evidence Act
 U.S. Senate
 2025-05-01
 text/xml
 EN
 Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
 II  119th CONGRESS  1st Session  S. 1574  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.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Tribal Access to Electronic Evidence Act  .
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 .