Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation v. Thurston County Board of Equalization

At issue in this case is whether state and local governments have the power to tax permanent improvements built on non-reservation land owned by the United States and held in trust for an Indian tribe. .Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. § 465 , and Mescalero Apache Tribe v. Jones, 411 U.S. 145 , 93 S.Ct. 1267 , 36 L.Ed.2d 114 (1973), we hold that they do not.

I

The Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation is a federally recognized Indian tribe in Southwest Washington. In 2002, the Tribe purchased approximately forty-three acres of land known as the “Grand Mound Property,” which was located off the Tribe’s reservation in Thurston County, Washington. Two years later, the Tribe asked the Department of the Interi- or to buy the Grand Mound Property and hold it in trust for the use and benefit of the Tribe pursuant to the Department’s authority under 25 U.S.C. § 465 . Section 465 authorizes the Secretary of the Interi- or to acquire “any interest in lands, water rights, or surface rights to lands, within or without existing reservations,” and to hold title to such lands and rights “in the name of the United States in trust for the Indian tribe or individual Indian for which the…