Cite as: 21 CNCA § 866

A. 1. The crime of trafficking in children is defined to consist of any of the following acts or any part thereof:

a. the acceptance, solicitation, offer, payment or transfer of any compensation, in money, property or other thing of value, at any time, by any person in connection with the acquisition or transfer of the legal or physical custody or adoption of a minor child except as otherwise provided by the Cherokee Nation Adoption Code, 10 CNCA § 55 et seq.;

b. the acceptance or solicitation of any compensation, in money, property or other thing of value, by any person or organization for services performed, rendered or purported to be performed to facilitate or assist in the adoption or foster care placement of a minor child, except by the Cherokee Nation Department of Children, Youth and Family Services or an agency licensed thereby, or an attorney authorized to practice law in Cherokee Nation. The provisions of this paragraph shall not prohibit an attorney licensed to practice law outside of Cherokee Nation or a non-Cherokee Nation child-placing agency from receiving compensation when working with an attorney licensed in Cherokee Nation who is, or when working with a child-placing agency licensed in Cherokee Nation which is, providing adoption services or other services necessary for placing a child in an adoptive arrangement.

c. the solicitation or receipt of any money or any other thing of value for expenses related to the placement of a child for the purpose of an adoption by the birth parent of the child who at the time of the solicitation or receipt had no intent to consent to eventual adoption;

d. the payment of a recognized hospital or a physician qualified under the laws of Cherokee Nation which renders competent and needed hospital and medical care to an expectant mother or reasonable domiciliary care to a mother and child when such hospital and medical care have been approved by the Judge of the District Court shall not be considered as compensation for the adoption of the child or in any sense of the words be referred to as "trafficking in children"; nor shall the charge of a reasonable attorney's fee for services rendered in adoption or custody proceedings, approved by the Court, be considered as trafficking in children; nor shall the fees charged by a licensed child placing agency approved by the Court, for services rendered in the care of any child or its parent, the investigation and counseling services to and on behalf of the child, its parents and prospective adoptive home, be considered as trafficking in children; provided, however, that all such procedure relating to the care of an expectant unwed mother and her child and the adoption procedure therein comprised, or any other adoption, shall remain confidential in its nature, as otherwise provided by law;

e. offering to place, or advertising to place, a child for adoption or for care in a foster home, by any person, as an inducement to any woman to enter an institution or home or other place for maternity care or for the delivery of a child;

f. bringing or causing to be brought into this Nation or sending or causing to be sent outside this Nation any child for the purpose of placing such child in a foster home or for the adoption thereof without first obtaining the consent of the Department of Children, Youth and Family Services. Provided, however, that this provision shall have no application to the parent or guardian of the child nor to a person bringing said child into this Nation for the purpose of adopting the child into such person's same into his own family;

g. acceptance of or the offering or payment of any compensation, in money, property or other thing of value, by any person, in connection with the acquisition or transfer of the legal or physical custody of a child, except as ordered by the Court or except as otherwise provided by law;

h. the solicitation or receipt of any money or any other thing of value for expenses related to the placement of a child for adoption by a woman who knows she is not pregnant but who holds herself out to be pregnant and offers to place a child upon birth for adoption;

i. the receipt of any money or any other thing of value for expenses related to the placement of a child for adoption by a birth parent who receives, from one or more parties, an aggregate amount of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) or more in total value without first disclosing to each prospective adoptive parent, child-placing agency, or attorney the receipt of these expenses;

j. advertising of services for compensation to assist with or effect the placement of a child for adoption or for care in a foster home by any person or organization except by the Department of Children, Youth and Family Services, or a child-placing agency licensed thereby. Nothing in this paragraph shall prohibit an attorney authorized to practice law in Cherokee Nation from the advertisement of legal services related to the adoption of children; and

k. Advertising for and solicitation of a woman who is pregnant to induce he to place her child upon birth for adoption, except by the Department of Children, Youth and Family Services or an attorney authorized to practice law in Cherokee Nation.

2.a. Except as otherwise provided by this subsection, the violation of any of the subparagraphs in paragraph 1 of this subsection shall constitute a felony punishable by imprisonment for a term not to exceed three (3) years or a fine of up to Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) per violation or by both such fine and imprisonment.

b. Prospective adoptive parents who violate subparagraph a of paragraph 1 of this subsection, upon conviction thereof, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and may be punished by a fine not to exceed Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) per violation.

B. 1. No person shall knowingly publish for circulation within the borders of Cherokee Nation an advertisement of any kind in any print, broadcast or electronic medium, including, but not limited to, newspapers, magazines, telephone directories, handbills, radio or television, which violates subparagraph j or k of paragraph 1 of subsection (A) of this section.

2. Any person violating the provisions of this subsection shall, upon conviction thereof, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine not to exceed Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) per violation.

C. The payment or acceptance of costs and expenses listed in the Cherokee Nation Adoption Code shall not be a violation of this section as long as the petitioner or birth parent has complied with the applicable procedure specified therein, and such costs and expenses are approved by the Court.

D. Any person knowingly failing to file an affidavit of all adoption costs and expenses before the final decree of adoption as required by the Cherokee Nation Adoption Code shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and punished by a fine not to exceed Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) per violation.

Historical Data

LA 10–90, eff. November 13, 1990. Amended LA 20–08, eff. January 12, 2009. Amended LA 09–12, eff. May 23, 2012. Amended LA 07-21, eff. February 22, 2021.