Which court has jurisdiction over the Major Crimes Act?

• A. State court
• B. Tribal court
• C. Federal court
• D. Municipal court

Answer: (C)

The main idea here is that the Major Crimes Act creates federal jurisdiction for certain serious offenses committed in Indian country. The statute specifies a list of major crimes and provides that, when these crimes are committed by a Native American in Indian country, the United States federal system has the authority to prosecute in federal courts. That means the venue for these prosecutions is the federal level, specifically the U.S. district courts, not state or municipal courts and not tribal courts for these listed offenses. Tribal courts handle many other crimes and matters within tribal jurisdiction, but the Major Crimes Act assigns these particular offenses to federal jurisdiction.