TITLE 25 - US CODE - SUBCHAPTER LVII - UPPER AND LOWER CHEHALIS TRIBES: DISTRIBUTION OF JUDGMENT FUND

25 USC 1151 - Membership roll; preparation; eligibility for enrollment; applications; finality of determination

The Secretary of the Interior shall prepare a roll of all persons who meet the following requirements for eligibility:

(a) They were alive on October 24, 1967, and

(b) they are descendants of members of the Upper and Lower Chehalis Tribes as they existed in 1855. Applications for enrollment must be filed with the Superintendent, Western Washington Agency, Everett, Washington, on forms prescribed for that purpose. The determination of the Secretary regarding the utilization of available rolls or records and the eligibility for enrollment of an applicant shall be final.

25 USC 1152 - Distribution in equal shares

After the deduction of attorney fees, litigation expenses, the costs of roll preparation, and such sums as may be required to distribute individual shares, the funds, including interest, remaining to the credit of the Upper and Lower Chehalis Tribes, which were appropriated by the Act of June 9, 1964 (78 Stat. 213), shall be distributed in equal shares to those persons whose names appear on the roll prepared in accordance with section 1151 of this title.

25 USC 1153 - Payments to minors and persons under legal disabilities; escheats

Sums payable to enrollees or to their heirs or legatees who are less than twenty-one years of age or who are under a legal disability shall be held in trust by the Secretary of the Interior with use limited to emergency medical care and direct educational expenses, until such minor becomes of age or disability ceases. Proportional shares of heirs or legatees amounting to $5 or less shall not be distributed, and shall escheat to the United States. In the event that the sum of money reserved by the Secretary to pay the costs of distributing the individual shares exceeds the amount actually necessary to accomplish this purpose, the money remaining shall also be distributed per capita unless individual shares would have a value of less than $5. Individual shares or proportional shares of heirs or legatees amounting to $5 or less shall not be distributed, but shall escheat to the United States.

25 USC 1154 - Tax exemption

The funds distributed under the provisions of this subchapter shall not be subject to Federal or State income taxes.

25 USC 1155 - Rules and regulations

The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to prescribe rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of this subchapter, including appropriate deadline for filing enrollment applications.