25 U.S.C. § 452
Section 452 · Contracts for education, medical attention, relief and social welfare of Indians
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 19 court decisions — leading case Organized Village of Kake v. Egan (1962)
Most recently applied in Navajo Health Foundation-Sage Memorial Hospital, Inc. v. Burwell (November 2016)
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.
The Secretary of the Interior is authorized, in his discretion, to enter into a contract or contracts with any State or Territory, or political subdivision thereof, or with any State university, college, or school, or with any appropriate State or private corporation, agency, or institution, for the education, medical attention, agricultural assistance, and social welfare, including relief of distress, of Indians in such State or Territory, through the agencies of the State or Territory or of the corporations and organizations hereinbefore named, and to expend under such contract or contracts, moneys appropriated by Congress for the education, medical attention, agricultural assistance, and social welfare, including relief of distress, of Indians in such State or Territory.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
1936—Act June 4, 1936, substituted “with any State or Territory, or political subdivision thereof, or with any State university, college, or school, or with any appropriate State or private corporation, agency, or institution”, “through the agencies of the State or Territory or of the corporations and organizations hereinbefore named,”, and “such State or Territory” for “any State or Territory having legal authority so to do,”, “through the qualified agencies of such State or Territory,”, and “such State”, respectively.
Short Title
Act April 16, 1934, ch. 147, 48 Stat. 596, which enacted sections 452 to 457 of this title, is popularly known as the “Johnson-O'Malley Act”.
Distribution of Public School Assistance
Pub. L. 100–446, title I, Sept. 27, 1988, 102 Stat. 1795, provided that: “notwithstanding any other provision of law, the amounts available for assistance to public schools under the Act of April 16, 1934 (48 Stat. 596), as amended (25 U.S.C. 452 et seq.), shall be distributed on the basis of the formula recommended by the Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs in a letter to the Committees on Appropriations dated June 27, 1988, except that for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1989, the minimum weight factor shall be 1.1 rather than 1.3 and for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1990, the minimum weight factor shall be 1.2 rather than 1.3”.
Similar provisions were contained in the following prior appropriation act:
Pub. L. 100–202, §101(g) [title I], Dec. 22, 1987, 101 Stat. 1329–213, 1329–228.
Limitation on Contract Authority
Pub. L. 99–190, §101(d) [title I], Dec. 19, 1985, 99 Stat. 1224, 1235, provided that: “notwithstanding any law or regulation, in allocating funds for aid to public schools under the Act of April 16, 1934, as amended [sections 452 to 457 of this title], the Secretary shall enter into contracts only for the provision of supplementary educational services for Indian children”.