Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute chairmen urge stronger state-tribal consultation, bills to protect children and recognize tribal warrants

Chairmen Melvin J. Baker of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and Emmanuel Hart of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe delivered a joint address to the Colorado General Assembly on the tribes' priorities for the 2025 legislative session, urging stronger government-to-government consultation and support for several specific bills and policy changes.

The speech outlined three legislative priorities the tribes will pursue this year, starting with strengthening Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) protections in Colorado and urging passage of proposed state measures to raise the state standard. The Southern Ute chairman thanked legislators who have agreed to sponsor that legislation and said tribes drafted the bill in collaboration with statewide stakeholders.

"We must never forget the mountains, the rivers, the plateaus across this breathtaking state bear the mark of the Ute people," Baker said, urging lawmakers to preserve tribal sovereignty and to consult early on legislation affecting tribal interests.

Why it matters: Baker and Hart said tribal governments already provide services—healthcare, law enforcement, education and infrastructure—that benefit tribal and non‑tribal residents, and that unclear consultation and jurisdictional gaps leave tribal communities vulnerable on public safety and resource issues. The tribes asked the General Assembly to back bills that would (1) strengthen state ICWA protections, (2) create a general legislative exclusion for tribal activities inside reservation boundaries, and (3) require state courts to give full faith and credit to warrants issued by tribal courts (sponsored in the Senate as Senate Bill 25‑009).

Summary of key points

- Tribal sovereignty and contributions: Baker described a long government‑to‑government relationship with Colorado and said the Southern Ute Indian Tribe is a major local employer and revenue source in La Plata County. He said the tribe makes payments in lieu of taxes and provides health, education and other services to tribal and non‑tribal residents.

- ICWA and child‑abuse legislation: Baker and Hart said they are working with sponsors in both chambers to introduce state legislation to strengthen ICWA protections and to support a proposed child sexual‑abuse accountability amendment the tribes view as particularly important for indigenous survivors.

- Recognition of tribal warrants (SB25‑009): Baker said differences in jurisdiction allow defendants to evade tribal court warrants by leaving the reservation; he thanked senators and representatives sponsoring Senate Bill 25‑009, which would require state courts to recognize and enforce tribal arrest warrants and allow state arresting officers to apprehend persons named in tribal warrants.

- General legislative exclusion for reservation activities: Baker described recurring problems when state laws are drafted without consideration of reservation jurisdictions (checkerboard land ownership and overlapping authorities) and asked the legislature to consider a rule of construction or carve‑out language to avoid unintended intrusions on tribal governance.

- Broadband, housing, healthcare and education: Both chairs described on‑reservation projects and needs. Baker said the Southern Ute broadband project currently serves roughly 1,110 service addresses and aims to reach more than 6,000 addresses within three years; he said the tribe has installed roughly 450,000 feet of conduit to support the network. Hart said the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe faces a roughly 300‑family housing waiting list, highlighted health disparities including dialysis needs for tribal members, and described an expanding K–5 tribal school that seeks permanent capital funding.

- Water and the Animas‑La Plata/Lake Nighthorse project: Hart described long‑standing constraints on tribal water use tied to the 1968 water settlement and Lake Nighthorse storage. He said each tribe holds about 16,000 acre‑feet of storage in the reservoir (about 32,000 acre‑feet combined) out of roughly 54,000 acre‑feet total storage. He said the project lacks a delivery system for tribal uses, that the removal of an original agricultural delivery component reduced project scope years ago, and that current construction costs for a delivery system are estimated substantially higher (he cited $400–$500 million versus earlier figures). Hart described a tribe proposal to release water to the Animas and pump it back to reservation lands using a proposed pumping plant (estimated by the tribe at ~$75 million), and said that doing so now would require compact changes or a memorandum of agreement with New Mexico because of interstate compact constraints.

- Consultation and process requests: Both chairs urged early, meaningful consultation by state agencies and sought a stronger Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs role. Hart asked whether the General Assembly and the governor would support a state‑tribal caucus day to facilitate regular government‑to‑government conversations earlier in the legislative cycle instead of at the "11th hour." Baker and Hart thanked members who have visited reservations and said the tribes remain open to hosting legislators.

Direct actions recorded during the session

- House moved to print the tribal representatives' message in the House Journal (mover: House Assistant Majority Leader Bacon); no objection — the message will be printed in the House Journal.

- Senate majority leader Rodriguez moved to dissolve the joint session; being no objection, the joint session was dissolved.

What the tribes asked lawmakers to do next

Baker and Hart asked the General Assembly to: (1) sponsor and pass state ICWA strengthening legislation; (2) advance Senate Bill 25‑009 or similar legislation to ensure recognition of tribal court warrants statewide; (3) adopt a clearer rule of construction or carve‑out language for future laws that could affect reservation governance; (4) support tribal priorities on broadband, housing, healthcare and water infrastructure; and (5) formalize regular, early consultation mechanisms (including consideration of a state‑tribal caucus day and strengthening the Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs).

Ending

Both speakers closed by stressing partnership. "Change comes at the speed of trust," Hart said as he concluded the tribal address to the legislature.