25 U.S.C. § 472
Section 472 · Standards for Indians appointed to Indian Office
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 34 court decisions — leading case Morton v. Mancari (1974)
Most recently applied in Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Peabody Western Coal Co. (September 2014)
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 directed to establish standards of health, age, character, experience, knowledge, and ability for Indians who may be appointed to the various positions maintained, now or hereafter, by the Indian Office, in the administration of functions or services affecting any Indian tribe. Such qualified Indians shall hereafter have the preference to appointment to vacancies in any such positions.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Codification
Provisions which authorized appointments “without regard to civil-service laws” were omitted as obsolete. Appointments in the executive branch are subject to the civil service laws unless specifically excepted by such laws or by laws enacted subsequent to Executive Order No. 8743, Apr. 23, 1941, issued by the President pursuant to act Nov. 26, 1940, ch. 919, title I, §1, 54 Stat. 1211, which covered most excepted positions into the classified (competitive) civil service. The Order is set out as a note under section 3301 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees. All positions in the Bureau of Indian Affairs and other positions in the Department of the Interior directly and primarily related to providing services to Indians when filled by the appointment of Indians are excepted from the competitive service under Schedule A of the Civil Service Rules.
Transfer of Functions
For transfer of functions of other officers, employees, and agencies of Department of the Interior, with certain exceptions, to Secretary of the Interior, with power to delegate, see Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1950, §§1, 2, eff. May 24, 1950, 15 F.R. 3174, 64 Stat. 1262, set out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.
Conversion to Career Appointment
Status of Indian appointed to Federal service under excepted appointment to be converted to career appointment in competitive service after three years of continuous service and satisfactory performance, see section 450i(m) of this title.
Cross References
Employment of Indians, see sections 44, 45, 46, 47 of this title.
Right-of-way grant, consent of tribal officials, see section 324 of this title.