- Details
- By Chez Oxendine
- Policy and Law
A federal court has issued a temporary stay blocking the transfer of more than 80 acres in Ledyard, Connecticut, into trust for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe.
The stay follows an April 11 complaint filed by the State of Connecticut against the Department of the Interior. The dispute centers on two applications submitted by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe in August 2023 to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). One application covers roughly 77 acres and the other roughly 5 acres. If approved, the trust transfer would remove the land from state-controlled fee status, shifting jurisdiction from local and state authorities to federal oversight and tribal control.
The state argues in its complaint that a trust acquisition completed in this way could cost Connecticut much of its jurisdictional powers.
“The consequences of defendants’ actions are significant—if the courts allow the decision to go into effect and stand, it will permanently strip the state of its sovereign territory at issue here and set a precedent and place it under the jurisdiction of defendants and the tribe,” the complaint reads. “Declaratory and injunctive relief is necessary to prevent these improper acquisitions.”
In its initial decision, BIA Regional Director Kimberly Bouchard approved the tribe’s applications, citing the agency’s statutory authority under the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA). Connecticut officials, however, contend that the legal basis is flawed because the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe was not federally recognized until 1983. The state argues that this disqualifies the tribe under a statute designed for entities recognized and under federal jurisdiction as of 1934.
After the state filed an administrative appeal, federal officials modified their legal justification, now invoking the Connecticut Indian Land Claims Settlement Act rather than the IRA. Connecticut argues that the policy shift is improper, given that the IRA was initially used to approve the applications.
The state also raised concerns about procedural issues. Under federal regulation, the BIA is required to notify state and local governments when a trust land application is received. According to Connecticut, notice was sent solely by paper mail to the governor’s office, but the documents were misdirected to a shared mailroom and never reached the appropriate official. This, the state asserts, deprived it of an opportunity to comment on the applications.
In its emergency motion, the state warned that once the land is transferred to trust status, it might be shielded from judicial review by sovereign immunity protections, effectively closing the door on further legal challenges.
U.S. District Judge Vernon D. Oliver subsequently granted a temporary stay on the transfer. The order prohibits the defendants, including officials of the Department of the Interior and the BIA, from taking any further steps to implement the trust decisions or to transfer titles. The stay is set to expire at 12 p.m. EDT on April 29 unless extended by further court order.
An expedited hearing on Connecticut’s emergency motion is scheduled for April 25, with a telephone conference on the case’s status set for April 23. The court’s action aims to preserve the status quo and prevent potential irreversible harm while it reviews the merits of the state’s claims, according to Oliver’s order.
