Tribal Officer Viola Hatch

1 tribal officer

1.1 tribal taxation authority
1.2 gaming ordinance
1.3 federal prosecution

tribal officer

in 1982, hatch elected vice chair of business committee of cheyenne , arapaho tribes. served on business committee 1982 1983, 1984 1985, 1988 1989, 1990 1991, , 1992 1993. 1987 1988 hatch served vice chair of tribes. elected treasurer 1989–1990 term , although not elected office, continued serve treasurer , sign tribal documents @ direction of business council in 1990 , 1991. hatch elected , served tribal chair 1994 1995.

tribal taxation authority

in 1988, hatch, along other members of business council sued consortium of oil , gas producers, alleged cheyenne , arapaho tribes 1988 statute imposing severance tax on oil , gas production on lands in tribal jurisdiction invalid because included allotted lands of tribal members. on 3 january 1994, tribal supreme court ruled territorial jurisdiction encompasse[d] allotted lands. oil , gas interests appealed case u.s. western district court oklahoma in action styled mustang fuel corp. v. hatch. court upheld right of tribes tax lands allotted in 1890 stating, allotted lands validly set apart use of tribes members @ time , have continually been in federally protected status. therefore, tribes can validly impose tax on valuable oil , gas development taking place on lands source of revenue fund tribal services within territory . important procedural victory native people , has been used basis other tribal disputes oil , gas entities , tribal land use applications.

gaming ordinance

during hatch s tenure chair, tribe submitted tribal gaming ordinance, approved national indian gaming commission (nigc). shortly thereafter, lucky star casino built in concho. 2004, tribe had expanded second casino in clinton, oklahoma , 2015 gaming enterprises encompassed 5 casinos. indian gaming has become major income source both tribe , state of oklahoma.

federal prosecution

in march 1995, hatch removed office, she, former state senator, , 2 other past tribal chairs of cheyenne-arapaho tribes named in 32-count federal indictment alleging conspired embezzle tribal funds. audit interior department in 1992 had claimed hundreds of thousands of dollars had been misused tribal business committee resulting in near bankruptcy of tribes. hatch 1 of tribal chairs accused , had served treasurer when alleged discrepancies occurred. actual indictment alleged approximately $18,000 falsely filed between january 1989 december 1991.

in july 1995, in federal courthouse in u.s. western district court @ oklahoma city, hatch , other tribe members indicted on charges of embezzlement, conversion, , conspiracy. alleged travel expenditure violations based on $734 of federal funds spent hatch, investigated on 3-year period @ cost of several hundred thousand dollars federal government. embezzlement , conspiracy charges dismissed lack of evidence. hatch convicted of receiving funds conferences did not attend , sentenced 12 months in prison. convicted of conversion legally means had lawfully come possession of funds afterwards illegally used funds.

her conviction appealed tenth circuit court of appeals in denver, colorado , overturned. according court documents, while there irregularities , lack of oversight protections in processing of travel expense claims, government s allegations hatch ever possessed funds unsubstantiated. government based claim on fact treasurer hatch had access tribal funds , fiduciary responsibility on them; therefore, had ownership of funds. however, appellate court ruled hatch did not have sole discretionary use, signatures of business manager, business committee chairman, , comptroller required disburse funds. laxity of business committee operations allowed overpayment of expenses, without method of tracking double-payments, did not constitute hatch knew overpayments occurring or had discretionary authority on tribal funds. sentence, along of others accused, vacated 10th circuit court of appeals.