FROM THE ARCHIVE

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Plaintiffs file motion to stop records move
THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 2002

Last Updated: 9:45 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. Update: Hearing to be held at 3 p.m. in federal district court. See http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov.

Attorneys representing 300,000 American Indians have asked a federal judge to halt a proposed move of 32,000 boxes of trust fund records.

In a motion filed in court yesterday, the plaintiffs asked U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth for a temporary restraining order. The order would prevent any transfer of records without approval of the court.

The order would also put special master Alan Balaran in charge of overseeing the Department of Interior's trust records. "Time is of the essence," the plaintiffs wrote.

The request comes on the heels of a highly critical report regarding the move. Balaran said top officials within the Office of the Special Trustee authorized transfer of records from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to a federal repository in Missouri with no planning.

Get the Motion:
Plaintiffs' Emergency Motion for Temporary Restraining Order (4/17)

Today on Indianz.Com:
Report slams top trust reform officials (4/18)

Relevant Links:
Indian Trust, Department of Interior - http://www.doi.gov/indiantrust
Indian Trust: Cobell v. Norton - http://www.indiantrust.com
Trust Reform, NCAI - http://130.94.214.68/main/pages/
issues/other_issues/trust_reform.asp