By SCOTT MCKIE B.P.
One Feather Asst. Editor
CHEROKEE, N.C. – Three new ordinances were submitted during the EBCI (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians) Dinilawigi (Tribal Council) regular session on Thursday, July 10. The ordinances, which were all deemed read and tabled, deal with topics including expungement of certain convictions, tribal levy and privilege tax rates, and an adjustment to the One Feather Editorial Board.
Tabled Ord. No. 516 (2025), submitted by TERO (Tribal Employment Rights Office), seeks to amend Chapter 15 (Criminal Procedure), specifically Sec. 15-15 (Expungement of certain convictions).
The Whereas portion of the legislation explains, “Current Cherokee Code provisions do not provide an adequate opportunity to expunge records and present a barrier to tribal members re-entering the workforce; and amendments must be made to the Cherokee Code to provide a functional and holistic expungement remedy to allow for individuals to re-enter all aspects of society upon completion of their sentence.”
The legislation seeks to add the following language in Cherokee Code Section 15-15, “(b) A petition for expungement may be filed under this section for misdemeanor or felony convictions entered in the Cherokee Court. Such petition shall be filed no sooner than 1 year after conclusion of the Court’s jurisdiction over the petitioner.
- A conviction for any of the following shall be excluded and shall not be eligible for expungement under this section:
- An offense involving sexual assault, harassment, molestation, exploitation, or contact.
- An offense involving physical harm or bodily injury.
- An offense that is a crime of violence.
- An offense for which sex offender registration is required pursuant to Article X of Chapter 14, whether or not the registration period has ended.
- An offense for the crime of domestic violence as defined or designate in Sec. 14-40.1.
- An offense involving embezzlement, theft, or fraud against the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
- A conviction for a misdemeanor traffic violation, except for driving while impaired offenses under Chapter 20, shall not constitute a disqualifying conviction pursuant to (c)(2).”
The legislation would also add Sec. 15-15(c) stating, “A petitioner shall be eligible for an expungement under this section if:
- At least one year has passed since the completion or satisfaction of the sentence, deferred judgment, or period of probation for each conviction for which expungement is sought;
- No misdemeanor or felony conviction has been entered against petitioner in any jurisdiction since the date of the most recent conviction for which expungement is sought;
- There are no pending criminal charges against the petitioner in any jurisdiction;
- The petitioner has no outstanding court costs, fees, fines, restitution, or any other financial interest obligations ordered by the Court or assessed by the Clerk of Court;
- The petitioner has not previously been granted an expungement under this section; and
- Expungement is in the best interest of justice.”
This legislation would also add Sec. 15-15(d) through (i) which are mainly procedural in nature.
Tabled Ord. No. 517 (2025), submitted by Michael McConnell, EBCI Attorney General, seeks to amend Cherokee Code Sec. 75-55 regarding the makeup of the Cherokee One Feather Editorial Board.
The Whereas section states, “Editorial decisions of the One Feather, such as what stories and editorials to publish, are made by the Editorial Board established in Cherokee Code Sec. 75-55; and Sec. 75-55 states that the Editorial Board shall consist of all members of the One Feather staff, one member appointed by the EBCI Executive Committee, one member appointed by Tribal Council, and a staff member from the EBCI Office of the Attorney General designated by the Attorney General.”
Further on in the Whereas section, it states, “The practice of an attorney advising a governing board and also being a member thereon and casting votes on editorial matters presents a potential conflict of interest that, depending on the circumstances, may violate the Rules of Professional Responsibility; and having a member of the Office of the Attorney General serve as a voting member of the Editorial Board blurs the line between attorney and client…”
The legislation seeks to amend Sec. 75-55(a) to remove the language designating “a staff member from the EBCI Office of the Attorney General as designated by the Attorney General” on the Cherokee One Feather Editorial Board.
The is the sole change sought with this legislation.
Tabled Ord. No. 518 (2025), submitted by Brandi Claxton, EBCI Interim Secretary of Treasury, and Michael McConnell, EBCI Attorney General, seeks to amend the amounts for tribal levy and privilege tax.
The Whereas portion of the legislation states, “Cherokee Code Section 105.1 imposes a Tribal Levy on all retail sales of goods or merchandise on tribal land, and the current levy rate is 7.5 percent.”
It goes on to state, “Section 105-30 imposes a short-term rental privilege tax on operations of hotels, motels, tourist homes, tourist camps, campgrounds, rental cabins, and similar type businesses; and currently Cherokee Code Sec. 105-31 imposes a four percent (4%) tax on the sales price for each room for every day or night the room is rented, and Cherokee Code 105-33 requires the Tribe to allocate the collected funds to various tribal programs; and the levy rate has not been adjusted since 2011 [Ord. No. 785 (2011)] and the short-term rental privilege tax rate has not been adjusted since 2018 [Ord. No. 59 (2018)] and is substantially below the rate imposed by surrounding destination communities.”
This legislation seeks to amend Sec. 105-1 to raise the Tribal Levy from 7.5 percent to 9 percent as well as amend Sec. 105-31 to raise the Privilege Tax from 4 percent to 5.5 percent.
This legislation also seeks major changes to Sec. 105-33 (Use of funds). It would amend Sec. 105-33(a) to read, “All funds collected by the Eastern Band pursuant to this article shall be deposited into the Tribe’s General Fund.”
If passed, Sec. 105-33 parts (b) through (h) would be deleted.
Those sections currently read as follows:
“(b) Twenty-five percent of the one-half of the short-term privilege tax collected shall be deposited in the Cherokee Tribal Sanitation Budget, specifically sanitation to eliminate the solid waste user fee for households. This fund shall be disbursed in accordance with the annual budget adopted by the Tribal Council.
(c) Fifty percent of the privilege tax collected shall be deposited in the Travel & Promotion Budget. This fund shall be disbursed in accordance with the annual budget adopted by the Tribal Council for the purpose of Tourism and shall be used as follows:
(1) To promote the Tribe’s bottled water program; and
(2) To help fund events sponsored by the Tribe and held at the Cherokee fairgrounds and other locations in Cherokee and for fairgrounds maintenance.
(d) Three percent of the privilege tax collected shall be deposited in the Cultural Preservation Budget. This fund shall be disbursed in accordance with the annual budget adopted by the Tribal Council for the purposes of cultural preservation.
(e) Three percent of the privilege tax collected shall be deposited in the Youth Sports Budget. This fund shall be disbursed in accordance with the annual budget adopted by the Tribal Council for the purposes of youth sports.
(f) Three percent of the privilege tax collected shall be deposited in the Health Transportation Budget. This fund shall be disbursed in accordance with the annual budget adopted by the Tribal Council for the purposes of travel to medical services.
(g) Three percent of the privilege tax collected shall be deposited in the Fuel Assistance Budget. This fund shall be disbursed in accordance with the annual budget adopted by the Tribal Council for the purposes of providing fuel.
(h) Thirteen percent of the privilege tax collected shall be deposited in the Tribal Recreation Program Budget. This fund shall be disbursed in accordance with the annual budget adopted by the Tribal Council for the purpose of providing Tribal recreation programs.”
These three pieces of legislation are expected to be on the agenda for the August session of Dinilawigi.
