25 U.S.C. § 1919
Section 1919 · Agreements between States and Indian tribes
This is § 109 of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 31 court decisions — leading case In re the Welfare of R.S. (2011)
Most recently applied in IN THE MATTER OF THE GUARDIANSHIP OF K.D.B. (February 2025)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
States and Indian tribes are authorized to enter into agreements with each other respecting care and custody of Indian children and jurisdiction over child custody proceedings, including agreements which may provide for orderly transfer of jurisdiction on a case-by-case basis and agreements which provide for concurrent jurisdiction between States and Indian tribes.
Such agreements may be revoked by either party upon one hundred and eighty days’ written notice to the other party. Such revocation shall not affect any action or proceeding over which a court has already assumed jurisdiction, unless the agreement provides otherwise.