Tribal prosecutors join U.S. Attorney’s Office

TULSA, Okla. (AP) – Two tribal special prosecutors have joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Tulsa to prosecute crimes in Indian Country.

U.S. Attorney Danny C. Williams Sr. says Jeff Jones, attorney general of the Osage Nation, and Sarah Hill, deputy attorney general of the Cherokee Nation, will work alongside other prosecutors in the office’s Indian Country Prosecution Unit to improve public safety in tribal communities.

The U.S. Constitution, treaties, federal statutes, executive orders and court decisions have established and defined the unique legal and political relationship between the United States and Indian tribes. Federal laws vest the U.S. Department of Justice with primary jurisdiction over most felonies that occur on Indian lands in most states.

There are 13 federally recognized tribes in the jurisdiction of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s in Tulsa.