Cite as: 11 CNCA § 33

A. All requests for copies of, or information contained in, records relating to tribal citizenship shall be made in writing and on a form prepared for that purpose by the Registrar.

B. The Registrar is hereby authorized and directed to prepare one or more forms to be used for all requests for the release of copies of tribal citizenship records or information.

C. Only a citizen of Cherokee Nation or the sponsor of a citizen may request copies of tribal citizenship records or information. Upon a request for such records or information by a citizen or a sponsor, the Registrar shall issue to the citizen or sponsor an authorization form. Provided, however, prior to issuing the form the Registrar shall enter thereon the name of the citizen, the citizen's Registry number, the sponsor's name (if any), and the date of issuance of the form. No authorization form issued pursuant to this section may be used to obtain information or records relating to any citizen other than the citizen whose name and Registry number is entered on the form by the Registrar.

D. Whenever authority to release information or records cannot be obtained from the tribal citizen or sponsor, the Principal Chief or the Principal Chief's designee may authorize the release of such records or information to any person if the Principal Chief or the designee determines that the release of same would be appropriate under the circumstances of the request.

E. Nothing in this section shall prevent the Registrar from releasing copies of records or information pursuant to a bona fide request from a law enforcement official.

F. Listings, statistics, and labels from the tribal citizenship database must be approved by the Principal Chief or designee. The receiving of such requests are routed through the Registrar, who obtains the Chief's approval, and coordinates with other departments to facilitate the request.

G. The status of a person as an enrolled citizen of Cherokee Nation is hereby deemed to be public information. In addition to any other tribal citizenship information that the Registrar is now or may hereafter be authorized to release or otherwise make public under the laws of the Cherokee Nation, the Registrar is authorized to disclose to any person, upon request, the following tribal citizen information:

1. Whether or not a person is currently enrolled as a citizen of Cherokee Nation, and, if so, the date on which the person became enrolled as a tribal citizen;

2. Whether or not a person has relinquished his or her tribal citizenship one or more times, and, if so, the date or dates on which the relinquishment of his or her tribal citizenship became effective under 11 CNCA § 34; and

3. Whether or not a person, having relinquished his or her tribal citizenship one or more times, has re-enrolled as a tribal citizen, and, if so, the date or dates upon which such person re-enrolled as a tribal citizen.

H. The Registrar shall maintain and keep current a list of the names of all persons who have relinquished their tribal citizenships, together with their former enrollment numbers and the effective dates of relinquishments of tribal citizenship. If any person appearing on the list re-enrolls pursuant to the Tribal Citizenship Act, the person's name shall remain on the relinquishment list but notation shall be made thereon of the re-enrollment and each of the date or dates on which such person re-enrolled as a citizen.

Historical Data

LA 6–92, eff. September 12, 1992. Amended LA 2–93, eff. August 11, 1993; LA 16–02, eff. May 21, 2002; LA 20–05, eff. May 19, 2005.