Upper Sioux Community Tribal Community Courts Initiative

The Upper Sioux Community (USC) is a small Dakota community located near the city of Granite Falls in southwestern Minnesota. It represents the federally recognized Indian tribal community that will be served by these funds. The Upper Sioux Community was formally established by Proclamation of the Secretary of the Interior in 1938. The federal government then purchased 746 acres of land near the city of Granite Falls in Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota for the Upper Sioux Community. These lands border the Minnesota River, and are divided by Minnesota Highway 67, which runs through the reservation. USC now has, through the purchase of additional lands in the 1990s and 2000s, 1,464 acres of land held in trust for the tribe by the federal government. An additional 309 acres are owned by the tribe, but not in trust. The district to be served is within these reservation boundaries. In 1962, the USC adopted a set of rules entitled “Provisions for Governing the Upper Sioux Community.” These Provisions were revised in 1975 and again in 1995, when the Provisions were changed to “The Constitution of the Upper Sioux Community.” This Constitution remains the USC governing document. It established a five-member Board of Trustees to serve as the principal policy and regulatory body. All trustees must be community members and reside within the fifteen-mile service area.
To qualify as a member of USC, a person must be of Dakota (Sioux) descent and must fulfill a two-year residency requirement. They must also apply and live within the fifteen-mile service area surrounding the reservation. This service area radius includes all or portions of six counties: Yellow Medicine, Chippewa, Renville, Redwood, Lac Qui Parle, and Lyon. In 1976, the USC voting list contained 65 eligible members. Now, in 2023, USC has a tribal enrollment of 548, triple that of its 1991 membership. There are 345 adult members (63% of total membership) and 203 (37%) minor members. Including non-member spouses/partners, the total service population of USC exceeds 640. USC anticipates between 50-75 Community members will be seen at Tribal Courts per year. The total budget for this proposal is $716,113. We are requesting $524, 369 in Federal funding with at match of $191,744. A risk-assessment tool will be utilized for appropriate Community members in order to generate data to improve our services.