Key improvements include format and accessibility
Historically speaking, when one wanted to obtain a section of tribal code, or the entire code book, they were required to request physical copies from Tribal Information Services, for a nominal fee. The process proved cumbersome for many, and once printed, did not always reflect recent changes to the code.
A new and improved online repository for the Southern Ute Indian Tribe’s Law and Order Codes will alleviate these problems, providing real time updates as soon as they are available, and a format that is consistent and searchable across the platform.
The project, spearheaded by the Southern Ute Indian Tribe’s Legal Department and Senior Tribal Attorney, James Washinawatok took almost six years to complete. “In 2017, the Southern Ute Tribal Council revised the policy to specify that the code would be made available online,” Washinawatok said. “The question started to be asked, ‘How do we want the code to be viewed online?’”
“The other issue that would arise is that as codes got amended, the amendments might not be in order,” Tribal Legislative Attorney, Leslie Barnhart said. “There are other parts too, such as resolutions. [The Law and Order Code book] became somewhat cumbersome in a sense.”
The answer was to create format revisions for each of the individual codes in order to make them more consistent and uniform in design. Simply reorganizing the existing information in a way that was more easily readable. This proved to be a key aspect of the digitization process, versus simply scanning the existing documents, which often times had multiple revisions and amendments making them difficult to interpret. The new format is clean and user friendly. It also allows for the Tribe’s Legal Department to replace files as needed once a code is revised or amended by Tribal Council.
The online platform is easy to navigate and provides titles to help guide the search process. Individual codes are now formatted in PDF format and easy to download. Simply navigate to the Southern Ute Tribal Code link under the Govt. tab on the Southern Ute Indian Tribe’s main website. The bulk of the project is complete, and the online platform is now live. Only a handful of codes remain inaccessible online, as they are pending final review and approval from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
“The most time-consuming process was ensuring that it was accurate,” Washinawatok said. “The site is publicly accessible. Tribal Court wanted it to be publicly accessible and that sort of led to this [platform.]
The platform was created by Southern Ute Shared Services to accommodate the new index of tribal codes and will be consistently updated with code revisions or amendments as needed going forward. Sidebar navigation is a key feature on the platform, with hyperlinks to each section.
“This is the Tribe’s code, and the tribal members’ code,” Washinawatok emphasized. “Tribal Council wants to encourage tribal members to find the code. By adding navigation features, we improved usability … the purpose is to make it easy for them.”
The direct URL for the Southern Ute Law and Order Codes can be found here: https://www.southernute-nsn.gov/government/tribal-code/