[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1574 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1574

  To amend the Stored Communications Act to include Tribal courts as 
                   courts of competent jurisdiction.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 1, 2025

Ms. Cortez Masto (for herself and Mr. Rounds) introduced the following 
    bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Stored Communications Act to include Tribal courts as 
                   courts of competent jurisdiction.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Tribal Access to Electronic Evidence 
Act''.

SEC. 2. TRIBAL COURTS AS COURTS OF COMPETENT JURISDICTION UNDER STORED 
              COMMUNICATIONS ACT.

    (a) Definitions.--Section 2711 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) in paragraph (3)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``or'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as 
                subparagraph (D); and
                    (C) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the 
                following:
                    ``(C) a Tribal court; or''; and
            (2) by striking paragraph (4) and inserting the following:
            ``(4) the term `governmental entity' means a department or 
        agency of--
                    ``(A) the United States;
                    ``(B) any State or political subdivision thereof; 
                or
                    ``(C) any Indian Tribe or political subdivision 
                thereof;
            ``(5) the term `Indian Tribe' means any Indian or Alaska 
        Native tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village, community, 
        component band, or component reservation individually 
        identified (including parenthetically) on the most recent list 
        published by the Secretary of the Interior under section 104 of 
        the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 
        U.S.C. 5131); and
            ``(6) the term `Tribal court' means a court of general 
        criminal jurisdiction of an Indian Tribe authorized by the law 
        of that Indian Tribe to issue search warrants.''.
    (b) Required Disclosure of Customer Communications or Records.--
Section 2703 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by striking the first sentence and 
        inserting the following:
            ``(1) In storage 180 days or less.--A governmental entity 
        may require the disclosure by a provider of electronic 
        communication service of the contents of a wire or electronic 
        communication, that is in electronic storage in an electronic 
        communications system for 180 days or less, only pursuant to a 
        warrant issued by a court of competent jurisdiction--
                    ``(A) issued using the procedures described in the 
                Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure;
                    ``(B) in the case of a State court, issued using 
                State warrant procedures;
                    ``(C) in the case of a court-martial or other 
                proceeding under chapter 47 of title 10 (the Uniform 
                Code of Military Justice), issued under section 846 of 
                that title, in accordance with regulations prescribed 
                by the President); or
                    ``(D) in the case of a Tribal court, issued using 
                the warrant procedures described in section 202(a)(2) 
                of Public Law 90-284 (commonly known as the `Indian 
                Civil Rights Act of 1968') (25 U.S.C. 1302(a)(2)).
            ``(2) In storage more than 180 days.--'';
            (2) in subsection (b)(1)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``using the 
                procedures described in the Federal Rules of Criminal 
                Procedure'' and all that follows through ``prescribed 
                by the President)'' and inserting ``in accordance with 
                subsection (a)(1)''; and
                    (B) in subparagraph (B)(i), by inserting ``, 
                Tribal,'' after ``a Federal'' each place it appears; 
                and
            (3) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ``using the 
                procedures described in the Federal Rules of Criminal 
                Procedure'' and all that follows through ``prescribed 
                by the President)'' and inserting ``in accordance with 
                subsection (a)(1)''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (2), in the undesignated matter 
                following subparagraph (F), by inserting ``, Tribal,'' 
                after ``a Federal'' each place it appears.
    (c) Delayed Notice.--Section 2705(a)(1)(B) of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting ``, Tribal,'' after ``a Federal'' 
each place it appears.
    (d) Civil Action.--Section 2707(g) of title 18, United States Code, 
is amended, in the second sentence, by inserting ``Tribal,'' after 
``State,''.
    (e) Wrongful Disclosure of Video Tape Rental or Sale Records.--
Section 2710 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)(2)(C), by inserting after ``an 
        equivalent State warrant,'' the following: ``a warrant issued 
        by a Tribal court using the warrant procedures described in 
        section 202(a)(2) of Public Law 90-284 (commonly known as the 
        `Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968') (25 U.S.C. 1302(a)(2)),''; 
        and
            (2) in subsection (d), by striking ``or a political 
        subdivision of a State'' and inserting ``a political 
        subdivision of a State, or an Indian Tribe''.
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