Judical Code

Section 1. Jurisdiction.

The Prairie Island Mdewakanton Dakota Community shall have jurisdiction over all marriages licensed and performed on its Reservation or on any allotted or tribally purchased lands or any public domain lands designated for Tribal use. The Prairie Island Mdewakanton Dakota Community shall have original jurisdiction over the domestic relations of its members.

Section 2. Definition.

Marriage is a personal relation arising out of a civil contract requiring the consent of the parties entering it or their guardians, as provided in Section Three (3)(a) and (d) of this Chapter.

Section 3. Who may marry.

a. Age limits.

No person under the age of 18 years may marry without the written consent of both parents if the person is living with both parents, or the parent with whom the person lives if only one parent. If the person is not living with either parent, the written consent of the nearest adult relative with whom the minor is living or of a guardian appointed by the Courts of the Prairie Island Mdewakanton Dakota Community. If any person authorized to give consent to the marriage of a minor is incapable of giving such consent because of mental incapacity or otherwise, a guardian appointed by the Courts of the Prairie Island Mdewakanton Dakota Community may give consent instead of such persons.

b. Blood relationships.

Persons related by blood in the form of parent, or by whole or half blood in the form of sibling, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, or first cousin may not marry one another.

c. Same gender marriages prohibited.

Only persons of the opposite gender may marry.

d. Competency of the persons marrying.

No person declared incompetent by a Court of the Prairie Island Mdewakanton Dakota Community may marry in the jurisdiction of the Prairie Island Mdewakanton Dakota Courts without the consent of the person's parent or legal guardian.

No person who is already married in this or any other jurisdiction may be licensed to be married in the Courts of the Prairie Island Mdewakanton Dakota Community except as provided in Section Three (3) (f) of this Chapter.

(1) A person who is already married, but whose spouse has been absent for five consecutive years and whom the person wishing to marry reasonably believes to be dead, may marry if she or he obtains a judicial determination that the absent spouse is presumed dead, pursuant to subsection two (2) as follows:

(2) A judge of the Prairie Island Mdewakanton Dakota Community Court makes a finding and order after hearing that the absent spouse is presumed dead. A judge may make such a finding and order only after notice of hearing to the absent spouse. Publication of the notice of hearing in three consecutive issues of a newspaper having general circulation on the Reservation and publication in three consecutive issues of a newspaper of general circulation in the county of the absent spouse's last known residence, if known, shall be sufficient notice. No hearing on an application for presumption of death of spouse shall be heard before thirty (30) days from the last publication of notice of hearing.

(3) The fact that an absentee spouse was exposed to specific peril of death may be sufficient grounds for finding that she or he died less than five years from the last date on which she or he was heard from.