Document Type
Article
Abstract
The need for attorneys in Indian country to fill the positions of tribal prosecutors and tribal public defenders in criminal cases is dire. There are many postings on jobs sites such as Indeed and Zip Recruiter for tribal prosecutor and tribal public defender jobs in the $60,000 to $90,0000 a year salary range constantly being reposted for months—even years. Simply put, the Tribes cannot fill these positions at the salaries they are willing to pay or can afford due to their rural locations. 2024 data from Bryce Drapeaux & Hannah Haksgaard published in the South Dakota Law Review showcased how striking the problem is and what the state of South Dakota is doing to address the problem through state-run recruitment efforts to bring attorneys to rural South Dakota and the South Dakota Tribal Nations. However, Indian Tribes regardless of their wealth status have the ability to fix this problem of their own accord through the licensing of law school graduates as full attorneys in their Tribal court systems and thus offering these law school graduates the chance to become attorneys at law even if they have not passed a state bar exam. This article argues that American Indian Tribes, acting within their sovereign authority and independent of state bar licensing systems, are well positioned to license attorneys by tapping into a huge pool of recent law school graduates between bar exam retakes, thereby affordably addressing unmet tribal legal needs.
DOI
https://www.doi.org/10.70657/SDLR.V71.I3.693
Recommended Citation
Nicholas J. Stamates,
Filling the Tribal Court Attorney Need Through Tribes Licensing Their Own Attorneys,
71
S.D. L. Rev.
693
(2026).
Available at:
https://red.library.usd.edu/sdlrev/vol71/iss3/17