Powell v. Farris

620 P.2d 525, 94 Wash. 2d 782, 1980 Wash. LEXIS 1417
CourtWashington Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 4, 1980
Docket46949
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 620 P.2d 525 (Powell v. Farris) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Washington Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Powell v. Farris, 620 P.2d 525, 94 Wash. 2d 782, 1980 Wash. LEXIS 1417 (Wash. 1980).

Opinions

Williams, J.

In March 1977, appellant Allen Powell, respondent Harold Farris, and one Frank LePonis entered into a business relation with the purpose of establishing a smokeshop on the Puyallup Indian Reservation. It was contemplated that cigarette sales and certain gambling operations were to be the mainstay of the business. The parties' partnership agreement provided that LePonis, a non-Indian, would deed certain real property to respondent, an enrolled member of the Puyallup Tribe of Indians, on condition that respondent arrange for restoration of Indian trust land status to the property. Appellant, also a non-Puyallup Indian, was to provide the initial capital to establish the business. Each party was to share equally in the anticipated profits.

There is no dispute that the business was duly registered with the Puyallup Tribe, that all necessary paperwork was filed according to the tribal rules, and that required tribal taxes were paid. In March of 1978, however, the tribal council revoked the smokeshop's business license because of the inclusion of a nonenrolled Puyallup Indian in the venture, a circumstance not permitted by the tribe's business code. After appellant and LePonis (who is not a party to this litigation) left the business, the tribal council renewed the business license, and respondent has been operating the business since that time.

[784]*784Appellant then brought an action in Pierce County Superior Court for a dissolution of the partnership and for an accounting, seeking a one-third interest in the profits and assets of the smokeshop. Upon respondent's motion, the trial court dismissed the case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The Court of Appeals determined that the matter involved fundamental and urgent issues of broad public import and certified the case to us pursuant to RCW 2.06.030 and RAP 4.2. We vacate the order of dismissal and remand to the trial court for further proceedings.

The sole issue we must decide at this stage of the proceedings is whether the state court has jurisdiction over the subject matter of an action for dissolution of a partnership and an accounting where the defendant is an enrolled tribal Indian, the plaintiff is a non-Indian, and the accounting is sought from proceeds of a business located on tribal trust land and licensed by the tribal council.1 In deciding this question, we think it may be helpful to set forth a few of the principles governing assertions of state power over the affairs of Indians and Indian tribes on federal reservations.

It is by now axiomatic that state power over Indians on a reservation is limited to the power granted by Congress in 25 U.S.C. § 1322 (1976) (originally enacted as Act of August 15, 1953, ch. 505, § 7, 67 Stat. 590, commonly known as Public Law 280). Public Law 280 authorized Washington and some other states to assume jurisdiction over "civil causes of action" and "criminal offenses” occurring on a reservation. 67 Stat. 590. Pursuant to that grant of authority, the Washington legislature enacted RCW 37.12, in which the state bound itself to exercise "criminal and civil jurisdiction over Indians and Indian territory, reservations, country, and lands within this state" in accordance with Public Law 280. RCW 37.12.010. The statute [785]*785specified that tribal consent was necessary for the assumption of state jurisdiction except in certain specified areas not applicable here. RCW 37.12.010, .021. Moreover, Public Law 280 did not confer on any state the authority to tax or encumber any Indian property or deprive any Indian or tribe of hunting or fishing rights, and the statute specifically disclaimed such power. Chief Seattle Properties, Inc. v. Kitsap County, 86 Wn.2d 7, 14, 541 P.2d 699 (1975); 67 Stat. 589; RCW 37.12.060.

Respondent argues that since Washington in RCW 37.12.010 has not asserted jurisdiction over the Puyallup Tribe as to a cause of action for dissolution and accounting, and since the tribe has not consented to additional jurisdiction pursuant to RCW 37.12.021, the superior court has no jurisdiction over the subject matter of this action. The response to this assertion is not quite so uncomplicated.

It is well settled that even without the jurisdiction conferred by Congress in Public Law 280, the state may exercise some jurisdiction over some reservation conduct. In particular, it may impose its laws on reservation conduct involving only non-Indians. It may, for example, impose a tax on a non-Indian's personal property held on tribal land. Chief Seattle Properties, Inc., at 18. It may impose a tax on non-Indian customers of Indian retailers doing business on the reservation. Washington v. Confederated Tribes, 447 U.S. 134, 159, 65 L. Ed. 2d 10, 32, 100 S. Ct. 2069 (1980); Moe v. Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes, 425 U.S. 463, 48 L. Ed. 2d 96, 96 S. Ct. 1634 (1976).

It is equally clear that an individual Indian who is off the reservation is subject to the laws of the State of Washington to the same extent that a non-Indian or alien is so subject. State v. Williams, 13 Wash. 335, 339, 43 P.. 15 (1895); United States Department of the Interior, Federal Indian Law 363 (1958); see also 1 Studies in American Indian Law 241 (R. Johnson ed. June 9,1970) (unpublished study in Washington State Law Library).

[786]*786The more difficult question arises in situations where, as here, both Indians and non-Indians are involved in a dispute which may have an impact on tribal property. In 1959, the United States Supreme Court addressed this issue in Williams v. Lee, 358 U.S. 217, 3 L. Ed. 2d 251, 79 S. Ct. 269 (1959). In that case the court set aside a judgment by a court in a state which had not assumed jurisdiction under Public Law 280. The judgment had authorized a non-Indian to sue an Indian in state court to recover on a debt which had been entered into on the reservation. In denying a right of recovery to the non-Indian, the court explained that permitting the action would infringe on the tribal sovereignty of reservation Indians. Williams v. Lee, supra at 220. The test for whether to allow state assertions of jurisdiction in such circumstances was stated as follows:

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Powell v. Farris
620 P.2d 525 (Washington Supreme Court, 1980)

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Bluebook (online)
620 P.2d 525, 94 Wash. 2d 782, 1980 Wash. LEXIS 1417, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/powell-v-farris-wash-1980.