Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, MI Appeal to the Tribal Court

All appeals from decisions of the Indian Preference Office shall be heard by the Tribal Court.

Any certified preference business or Purchasing Office which disagrees with the decision of the Indian Preference Office may appeal that decision to the Tribal Court.

§ 5.4-16 Request for appeal; deadline to appeal.

All appeals shall be made in writing to the Tribal Court.

(1)

A request for appeal must identify the grounds upon which the appeal is based, which may include one or more of the following reasons:

(a)

The decision, including the sanction, is clearly erroneous and contrary to the weight of the evidence presented.

(b)

A prejudicial error was committed in the course of the proceedings.

(c)

The decision relies on an incorrect application of law or rule.

(2)

A copy of the decision of the Indian Preference Officer's decision, which is being appealed, must be attached to the request for appeal.

The request for appeal must be in writing and signed by the individual or authorized representative of the Indian preference business or legal counsel for the Purchasing Office.

The request must be received by the Tribal Court within fifteen (15) calendar days from the date the decision being appealed was issued by the Indian Preference Officer.

§ 5.4-17 Record on appeal.

The administrative decision by the Indian Preference Office, together with all requests, documents, and correspondence filed in the proceeding, shall constitute the exclusive administrative appeal hearing record. The record shall be compiled, certified and maintained by the Indian Preference Office in accordance with applicable record retention requirements prescribed by the Government Records Manager. Both parties shall be afforded access to the record; however, the Indian preference business shall not be provided any documents which include any proprietary information of other companies or bidders, such as pricing, statement of qualification or bid/cost proposals submitted by such other bidders.

§ 5.4-18 Stay.

The filing of an appeal request will not automatically stay implementation of the Indian Preference Officer's decision, except as to any monetary sanction. However, the Tribal Court may enter an order delaying implementation of a decision when requested by a party, when the appeal appears to be meritorious and when the appeal cannot be processed to completion in time to prevent irreparable harm to either the Indian preference business or the Purchasing Office. Before entering any order which stays a Purchasing Office from completing any procurement process, the Tribal Court shall give the Purchasing Office an opportunity to present arguments as to how a stay will cause irreparable harm or disruption to the business operations. If the Purchasing Officer meets its burden of proof, any certified preference business requesting a stay shall have the burden of demonstrating, by clear and convincing evidence, that the granting of a stay will not result in irreparable harm or disruption to important business operations. In ruling on any request to stay a procurement decision, the Tribal Court shall issue a written directive to the Purchasing Office, with a copy to the certified preference business. Any interim order, either to stay implementation of a procurement or to deny a stay, shall not constitute a decision on the merits of the appeal, but only serves to preserve the status quo until a decision on the merits can be made.

§ 5.4-19 Tribal Court decision.

The Tribal Court shall have jurisdiction to decide:

To uphold the decision of the Indian Preference Officer;

To modify a sanction imposed by the Indian Preference Officer; or

To reverse the decision and remand the matter back to the Indian Preference Officer for proceedings consistent with the Court's findings if the Tribal Court determines that the Indian Preference Officer incorrectly interpreted or applied this chapter, the Constitution, or that the decision of the Indian Preference Officer was clearly erroneous or not supported by the record.

§ 5.4-20 Finality.

An appeal decision that affirms or reverses the initial decision being appealed shall constitute the final and binding decision on the issue(s) involved, and no further appeals shall be permitted.

An appeal decision that vacates the original decision and remands the case to the Indian Preference Officer does not constitute a final resolution, since the supplemental decision issued on remand shall be subject to further appeal.