25 U.S.C. § 4042
Section 4042 · Office of Special Trustee for American Indians
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 4 court decisions — leading case Cobell v. Babbitt (1999)
Most recently applied in Cobell v. Babbitt (December 1999)
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.
There is hereby established within the Department of the Interior the Office of Special Trustee for American Indians. The Office shall be headed by the Special Trustee who shall report directly to the Secretary.
(1) Appointment
The Special Trustee shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, from among individuals who possess demonstrated ability in general management of large governmental or business entities and particular knowledge of trust fund management, management of financial institutions, and the investment of large sums of money.
(2) Compensation
The Special Trustee shall be paid at a rate determined by the Secretary to be appropriate for the position, but not less than the rate of basic pay payable at Level II of the Executive Schedule under section 5313 of title 5.
(1) Conditioned upon implementation of reforms
The Special Trustee, in proposing a termination date under section 4043(a)(2)(C) of this title, shall ensure continuation of the Office until all reforms identified in the strategic plan have been implemented to the satisfaction of the Special Trustee.
(2) 30-day notice
Thirty days prior to the termination date proposed in the plan submitted under this section, the Special Trustee shall notify the Secretary and the Congress in writing of the progress in implementing the reforms identified in the plan. The Special Trustee, at that time, may recommend the continuation, or the permanent establishment, of the Office if the Special Trustee concludes that continuation or permanent establishment is necessary for the efficient discharge of the Secretary's trust responsibilities.
(3) Termination date
The Office shall terminate 180 legislative days after the date on which the notice to the Congress under paragraph (2) is provided, unless the Congress extends the authorities of the Special Trustee. For the purposes of this section, a legislative day is a day on which either House of the Congress is in session.