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Alaska Statehood Act - July 7, 1958
72 Stat. 339 Public Law 85-508
(see a scan of the original document at
the bottom of this page)
An act to provide for the admission of the State of Alaska into the
Union
SEC. 1.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, That, subject to the provisions
of this act, and upon issuance of the proclamation required by section 8 (c) of
this Act, the State of Alaska is hereby declared to be a State of the United
States of America, is declared admitted into the Union on an equal footing with
the other States in all respects whatever, and the constitution formed pursuant
to the provisions of the Act of the Territorial Legislature of Alaska entitled,
"An Act to provide for the holding of a constitutional convention to prepare
a constitution for the State of Alaska; to submit the constitution to the people
for adoption or rejection; to prepare for the admission of Alaska as a State; to
make an appropriation; and setting an effective date", approved March 19,
1955 (Chapter 46, Session Laws of Alaska, 1955), and adopted by a vote of the
people of Alaska in the election held an April 24, 1956, is hereby found to be
republican in form and in conformity with the Constitution of the United States
and the principles of the Declaration of Independence, and is hereby accepted,
ratified, and confirmed.
SEC. 2.
The State of Alaska shall consist of all the territory, together
with the territorial waters appurtenant thereto, now included in the Territory
of Alaska.
SEC. 3.
The constitution of the State of Alaska shall always be
republican in form and shall not be repugnant to the Constitution of the United
States and the principles of the Declaration of Independence.
SEC. 4.
As a compact with the United States said State and its people do
agree and declare that they forever disclaim all right and title to any lands or
other property not granted or confirmed to the State or its political
subdivisions by or under the authority of this Act, the right or title to which
is held by the United States or is subject to disposition by the United States,
and to any lands or other property, (including fishing rights), the right or
title to which may be held by any Indians, Eskimos, or Aleuts (hereinafter
called natives) or is held by the United States in trust for said natives; that
all such lands or other property, belonging to the United States or which may
belong to said natives, shall be and remain under the absolute jurisdiction and
control of the United States until disposed of under its authority, except to
such extent as the Congress has prescribed or may hereafter prescribe, and
except when held by individual natives in fee without restrictions on
alienation: Provided, That nothing contained in this act shall recognize, deny,
enlarge, impair, or otherwise affect any claim against the United States, and
any such claim shall be governed by the laws of the United States applicable
thereto; and nothing in this Act is intended or shall be construed as a finding,
interpretation, or construction by the Congress that any law applicable thereto
authorizes, establishes, recognizes, or confirms the validity or invalidity of
any such claim, and the determination of the applicability or effect of any law
to any such claim shall be unaffected by anything in this Act: And provided
further, That no taxes shall be imposed by said State upon any lands or other
property now owned or hereafter acquired by the United States or which, as
hereinabove set forth, may belong to said natives, except to such extent as the
Congress has prescribed or may hereafter prescribe, and except when held by
individual natives in fee without restrictions on alienation.
SEC. 5.
The State of Alaska and its political subdivisions,
respectively, shall have and retain title to all property, real and personal,
title to which is in the Territory of Alaska or any of the subdivisions. Except
as provided in section 6 hereof, the United States shall retain title to all
property, real and personal, to which it has title, including public lands.
SEC. 6.
(a) For the purposes of furthering the development of and
expansion of communities, the State of Alaska is hereby granted and shall be
entitled to select, within twenty-five years after the date of the admission of
the State of Alaska into the Union, from lands within national forests in Alaska
which are vacant and unappropriated at the time of their selection not to exceed
four hundred thousand acres of land, and from the other public lands of the
United States in Alaska which are vacant, unappropriated, and unreserved at the
time of their selection not to exceed another four hundred thousand acres of
land, all of which shall be adjacent to established communities or suitable for
prospective community centers and recreational areas. Such lands shall be
selected by the State of Alaska with the approval of the Secretary of
Agriculture as to national forest lands and with the approval of the Secretary
of the Interior as to other public lands: Provided, That nothing herein
contained shall affect any valid existing claim, location, or entry under the
laws of the United States, whether for homestead, mineral, right-of-way, or
other purpose whatsoever, or shall affect the rights of any such owner,
claimant, locator, or entryman to the full use and enjoyment of the land so
occupied.
(b) The State of Alaska, in addition to any other grants made in this
section, is hereby granted and shall be entitled to select, within twenty-five
years after the admission of Alaska into the Union, not to exceed one hundred
and two million five hundred and fifty thousand acres from the public lands of
the United States in Alaska which are vacant, unappropriated, and unreserved at
the time of their selection: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall
affect any valid existing claim, location, or entry under the laws of the United
States, whether for homestead, mineral, right-of-way, or other purpose
whatsoever, or shall affect the rights of any such owner, claimant, locator, or
entryman to the full use and enjoyment of the lands so occupied: And provided
further, That no selection hereunder shall be made in the area north and west of
the line described in section 10 without approval of the President or his
designated representative.
(c) Block 32, and the structures and improvements thereon, in the city
of Juneau are granted to the State of Alaska for any or all of the following
purposes or a combination thereof: A residence for the Governor, a State museum,
or park and recreational use.
(d) Block 19, and the structures and improvements thereon, and the
interests of the United States in blocks C and 7, and the structures and
improvements thereon, in the city of Juneau, are hereby granted to the State of
Alaska. (e)
All real and personal property of the United States situated in the Territory of
Alaska which is specifically used for the sole purpose of conservation and
protection of the fisheries and wildlife of Alaska, under the provisions of the
Alaska game law of July 1, 1943 (57 Stat. 301; 48 U. S. C., secs. 192-211), as
amended, and under the provisions of the Alaska commercial fisheries laws of
June 26, 1906 (34 Stat. 478; 48 U. S. C., secs. 230-239 and 241-242), and June
6, 1924 (43 Stat. 465; 48 U. S. C., secs. 221-228), as supplemented and amended,
shall be transferred and conveyed to the State of Alaska by the appropriate
Federal agency: Provided, That the administration and management of the fish and
wildlife resources of Alaska shall be retained by the Federal Government under
existing laws until the first day of the first calendar year following the
expiration of ninety legislative days after the Secretary of the Interior
certifies to the Congress that the Alaska State Legislature has made adequate
provision for the administration, management, and conservation of said resources
in the broad national interest: Provided, That such transfer shall not include
lands withdrawn or otherwise set apart as refuges or reservations for the
protection of wildlife nor facilities utilized in connection therewith, or in
connection with general research activities relating to fisheries or wildlife.
Sums of money that are available for apportionment or which the Secretary of the
Interior shall have apportioned, as of the date the State of Alaska shall be
deemed to be admitted into the Union, for wildlife restoration in the Territory
of Alaska, pursuant to section 8 (a) of the Act of September 2, 1937, as amended
(16 U. S. C., sec. 669g-1), and for fish restoration and management in the
Territory of Alaska, pursuant to section 12 of the Act of August 9, 1950 (16 U.
S. C., sec. 777k), shall continue to be available for the period, and under the
terms and conditions in effect at the time, the apportionments are made.
Commencing with the year during which Alaska is admitted into the Union, the
Secretary of the Treasury, at the close of each fiscal year, shall pay to the
State of Alaska 70 per centum of the net proceeds, as determined by the
Secretary of the Interior, derived during such fiscal year from all sales of
sealskins or sea-otter skins made in accordance with the provisions of the Act
of February 26, 1944 (58 Stat. 100; 16 U. S. C., secs. 631a-631q), as
supplemented and amended. In arriving at the net proceeds, there shall be
deducted from the receipts from all sales all costs to the United States in
carrying out the provisions of the Act of February 26, 1944, as supplemented and
amended, including, but not limited to, the costs of handling and dressing the
skins, the costs of making the sales, and all expenses incurred in the
administration of the Pribilof Islands. Nothing in this Act shall be construed
as affecting the rights of the United States under the provisions of the Act of
February 26, 1944, as supplemented and amended, and the Act of June 28, 1937 (50
Stat. 325), as amended (16 U. S. C., sec. 772 et seq.).
(f) Five per centum of the proceeds of sale of public lands lying
within said State which shall be sold by the United States subsequent to the
admission of said State into the Union, after deducting all the expenses
incident to such sales, shall be paid to said State to be used for the support
of the public schools within said State.
(g) Except as provided in subsection (a), all lands granted in
quantity to and authorized to be selected by the State of Alaska by this Act
shall be selected in such manner as the laws of the State may provide, and in
conformity with such regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe.
All selections shall be made in reasonably compact tracts, taking into account
the situation and potential uses of the lands involved, and each tract selected
shall contain at least five thousand seven hundred and sixty acres unless
isolated from other tracts open to selection. The authority to make selections
shall never be alienated or bargained away, in whole or in part, by the State.
Upon the revocation of any order of withdrawal in Alaska, the order of
revocation shall provide for a period of not less than ninety days before the
date on which it otherwise becomes effective, if subsequent to the admission of
Alaska into the Union, during which period the State of Alaska shall have a
preferred right of selection, subject to the requirements of this Act, except as
against prior existing valid rights or as against equitable claims subject to
allowance and confirmation. Such preferred right of selection shall have
precedence over the preferred right of application created by section 4 of the
Act of September 27, 1944 (58 Stat. 748; 43 U. S. C., sec. 282), as now or
hereafter amended, but not over other preference rights now conferred by law.
Where any lands desired by the State are unsurveyed at the time of their
selection, the Secretary of the Interior shall survey the exterior boundaries of
the area requested without any interior subdivision thereof and shall issue a
patent for such selected area in terms of the exterior boundary survey; where
any lands desired by the State are surveyed at the time of their selection, the
boundaries of the area requested shall conform to the public land subdivisions
established by the approval of the survey. All lands duly selected by the State
of Alaska pursuant to this Act shall be patented to the State by the Secretary
of the Interior. Following the selection of lands by the State and the tentative
approval of such selection by the Secretary of the Interior or his designee, but
prior to the issuance of final patent, the State is hereby authorized to execute
conditional leases and to make conditional sales of such selected lands. As used
in this subsection, the words "equitable claims subject to allowance and
confirmation" include, without limitation, claims of holders of permits issued
by the Department of Agriculture on lands eliminated from national forests,
whose permits have been terminated only because of such elimination and who own
valuable improvements on such lands.
(h) Any lease, permit, license, or contract issued under the Mineral
Leasing Act of February 25, 1920 (41 Stat. 437; 30 U. S. C., sec. 181 and
following), as amended, or under the Alaska Coal Leasing Act of October 20, 1914
(38 Stat. 741; 30 U. S. C., sec. 432 and following), as amended, shall have the
effect of withdrawing the lands subject thereto from selection by the State of
Alaska under this Act, unless such lease, permit, license, or contract is in
effect on the date of approval of this Act, and unless an application to select
such lands is filed with the Secretary of the Interior within a period of five
years after the date of the admission of Alaska into the Union. Such selections
shall be made only from lands that are otherwise open to selection under this
Act, and shall include the entire area that is subject to each lease, permit,
license, or contract involved in the selections. Any patent for lands so
selected shall vest in the State of Alaska all right, title, and interest of the
United States in and to any such lease, permit, license, or contract that
remains outstanding on the effective date of the patent, including the right to
all rentals, royalties, and other payments accruing after that date under such
lease, permit, license, or contract, and including any authority that may have
been retained by the United States to modify the terms and conditions of such
lease, permit, license, or contract: Provided, That nothing herein contained
shall affect the continued validity of any such lease, permit, license, or
contract or any rights arising thereunder.
(i) All grants made or confirmed under this Act shall include mineral
deposits. The grants of mineral lands to the State of Alaska under subsections
(a) and (b) of this section are made upon the express condition that all sales,
grants, deeds, or patents for any of the mineral lands so granted shall be
subject to and contain reservation to the State of all of the minerals in the
lands so sold, granted, deeded, or patented, together with the right to prospect
for, mine, and remove the same. Mineral deposits in such lands shall be subject
to lease by the State as the State legislature may direct: Provided, That any
lands or minerals hereafter disposed of contrary to the provisions of this
section shall be forfeited to the United States by appropriate proceedings
instituted by the Attorney General for that purpose in the United States
District Court for the District of Alaska.
(j) The schools and colleges provided for in this Act shall forever
remain under the exclusive control of the State, or its governmental
subdivisions, and no part of the proceeds arising from the sale or disposal of
any lands granted herein for educational purposes shall be used for the support
of any sectarian or denominational school, college, or university.
(k) Grants previously made to the Territory of Alaska are hereby
confirmed and transferred to the State of Alaska upon its admission. Effective
upon the admission of the State of Alaska into the Union, section 1 of the Act
of March 4, 1915 (38 Stat. 1214; 48 U. S. C., sec. 353), as amended, and the
last sentence of section 35 of the Act of February 25, 1920 (41 Stat. 450; 30 U.
S. C, sec. 191), as amended, are repealed and all lands therein reserved under
the provisions of section 1 as of the date of this Act shall, upon the admission
of said State into the Union, be granted to said State for the purposes for
which they were reserved; but such repeal shall not affect any outstanding
lease, permit, license, or contract issued under said section 1, as amended, or
any rights or powers with respect to such lease, permit, license, or contract,
and shall not affect the disposition of the proceeds or income derived prior to
such repeal from any lands reserved under said section 1, as amended, or derived
thereafter from any disposition of the reserved lands or an interest therein
made prior to such repeal.
(l) The grants provided for in this Act shall be in lieu of the grant
of land for purposes of internal improvements made to new States by section 8 of
the Act of September 4, 1841 (5 Stat. 455), and sections 2378 and 2379 of the
Revised Statutes (43 U. S. C., sec. 857), and in lieu of the swampland grant
made by the Act of September 28, 1850 (9 Stat. 520), and section 2479 of the
Revised Statutes (43 U. S. C., sec. 982), and in lieu of the grant of thirty
thousand acres for each Senator and Representative in Congress made by the Act
of July 2, 1862, as amended (12 Stat. 503; 7 U. S. C., secs. 301-308), which
grants are hereby declared not to extend to the State of Alaska.
(m) The Submerged Lands Act of 1953 (Public Law 31, Eightythird
Congress, first session; 67 Stat. 29) shall be applicable to the State of Alaska
and the said State shall have the same rights as do existing States thereunder.
SEC. 7.
Upon enactment of this Act, it shall be the duty of the
President of the United States, not later than July 3, 1958, to certify such
fact to the Governor of Alaska. Thereupon the Governor, on or after July 3,
1958, and not later than August 1, 1958, shall issue his proclamation for the
elections, as hereinafter provided, for officers of all elective offices and in
the manner provided for by the constitution of the proposed State of Alaska, but
the officers so elected shall in any event include two Senators and one
Representative in Congress.
SEC. 8.
(a) The proclamation of the Governor of Alaska required
by section 7 shall provide for holding of a primary election and a general
election on dates to be fixed by the Governor of Alaska: Provided, That the
general election shall not be held later than December 1, 1958, and at such
elections the officers required to be elected as provided in section 7 shall be,
and officers for other elective offices provided for in the constitution of the
proposed State of Alaska may be, chosen by the people. Such elections shall be
held, and the qualifications of voters thereat shall be, as prescribed by the
constitution of the proposed State of Alaska for the election of members of the
proposed State legislature. The returns thereof shall be made and certified in
such manner as the constitution of the proposed State of Alaska may prescribe.
The Governor of Alaska shall certify the results of said elections to the
President of the United States.
(b) At an election designated by proclamation of the Governor of
Alaska, which may be the general election held pursuant to subsection (a) of
this section, or a Territorial general election, or a special election, there
shall be submitted to the electors qualified to vote in said election, for
adoption or rejection, by separate ballot on each, the following propositions:
"(1) Shall Alaska immediately be admitted into the Union as a State? "(2) The
boundaries of the State of Alaska shall be as prescribed in the Act of Congress
approved _____________________ (date of approval of this Act) and all claims of
this State to any areas of land or sea outside the boundaries so prescribed are
hereby irrevocably relinquished to the United States. "(3) All provisions of the
Act of Congress approved ____________ (date of approval) reserving rights or
powers to the United States, as well as of this Act those prescribing the terms
or conditions of the grants of lands or other property therein made to the State
of Alaska, are consented to fully by said State and its people." In the event
each of the foregoing propositions is adopted at said election by a majority of
the legal votes cast on said submission, the proposed constitution of the
proposed State of Alaska, ratified by the people at the election held on April
24, 1956, shall be deemed amended accordingly. In the event any one of the
foregoing propositions is not adopted at said election by a majority of the
legal votes cast on said submission, the provisions of this Act shall thereupon
cease to be effective. The Governor of Alaska is hereby authorized and directed
to take such action as may be necessary or appropriate to insure the submission
of said propositions to the people. The return of the votes cast on said
propositions shall be made by the election officers directly to the Secretary of
Alaska, who shall certify the results of the submission to the Governor. The
Governor shall certify the results of said submission, as so ascertained, to the
President of the United States.
(c) If the President shall find that the propositions set forth in the
preceding subsection have been duly adopted by the people of Alaska, the
President, upon certification of the returns of the election of the officers
required to be elected as provided in section 7 of this Act, shall thereupon
issue his proclamation announcing the results of said election as so
ascertained. Upon the issuance of said proclamation by the President, the State
of Alaska shall be deemed admitted into the Union as provided in section 1 of
this Act. Until the said State is so admitted into the Union, all of the
officers of said Territory, including the Delegate in Congress from said
Territory, shall continue to discharge the duties of their respective offices.
Upon the issuance of said proclamation by the President of the United States and
the admission of the State of Alaska into the Union, the officers elected at
said election, and qualified under the provisions of the constitution and laws
of said State, shall proceed to exercise all the functions pertaining to their
offices in or under or by authority of the government of said State, and
officers not required to be elected at said initial election shall be selected
or continued in office as provided by the constitution and laws of said State.
The Governor of said State shall certify the election of the Senators and
Representative in the manner required by law, and the said Senators and
Representative shall be entitled to be admitted to seats in Congress and to all
the rights and privileges of Senators and Representatives of other States in the
Congress of the United States.
(d) Upon admission of the State of Alaska into the Union as herein
provided, all of the Territorial laws then in force in the Territory of Alaska
shall be and continue in full force and effect throughout said State except as
modified or changed by this Act, or by the constitution of the State, or as
thereafter modified or changed by the legislature of the State. All of the laws
of the United States shall have the same force and effect within said State as
elsewhere within the United States. As used in this paragraph, the term
"Territorial laws" includes (in addition to laws enacted by the Territorial
Legislature of Alaska) all laws or parts thereof enacted by the Congress the
validity of which is dependent solely upon the authority of the Congress to
provide for the government of Alaska prior to the admission of the State of
Alaska into the Union, and the term "laws of the United States" includes all
laws or parts thereof enacted by the Congress that (1) apply to or within Alaska
at the time of the admission of the State of Alaska into the Union, (2) are not
"Territorial laws" as defined in this paragraph, and (3) are not in conflict
with any other provisions of this Act.
SEC. 9.
The State of Alaska upon its admission into the Union shall be
entitled to one Representative until the taking effect of the next
reapportionment, and such Representative shall be in addition to the membership
of the House of Representatives as now prescribed by law: Provided, That such
temporary increase in the membership shall not operate to either increase or
decrease the permanent membership of the House of Representatives as prescribed
in the Act of August 8, 1911 (37 Stat. 13) nor shall such temporary increase
affect the basis of apportionment established by the Act of November 15, 1941
(55 Stat. 761; 2 U. S. C., sec. 2a), for the Eighty-third Congress and each
Congress thereafter.
SEC. 10.
(a) The President of the United States is hereby
authorized to establish, by Executive order or proclamation, one or more special
national defense withdrawals within the exterior boundaries of Alaska, which
withdrawal or withdrawals may thereafter be terminated in whole or in part by
the President.
(b) Special national defense withdrawals established under subsection
(a) of this section shall be confined to those portions of Alaska that are
situated to the north or west of the following line: Beginning at the point
where the Porcupine River crosses the international boundary between Alaska and
Canada; thence along a line parallel to, and five miles from, the right bank of
the main channel of the Porcupine River to its confluence with the Yukon River;
thence along a line parallel to, and five miles from, the right bank of the main
channel of the Yukon River to its most southerly point of intersection with the
meridian of longitude 160 degrees west of Greenwich; thence south to the
intersection of said meridian with the Kuskokwim River; thence along a line
parallel to, and five miles from the right bank of the Kuskokwim River to the
mouth of said river; thence along the shoreline of Kuskokwim Bay to its
intersection with the meridian of longitude 162 degrees 30 minutes west of
Greenwich; thence south to the intersection of said meridian with the parallel
of latitude 57 degrees 30 minutes north; thence east to the intersection of said
parallel with the meridian of longitude 156 degrees west of Greenwich; thence
south to the intersection of said meridian with the parallel of latitude 50
degrees north.
(c) Effective upon the issuance of such Executive order or
proclamation, exclusive jurisdiction over all special national defense
withdrawals established under this section is hereby reserved to the United
States, which shall have sole legislative, judicial, and executive power within
such withdrawals, except as provided hereinafter. The exclusive jurisdiction so
established shall extend to all lands within the exterior boundaries of each
such withdrawal, and shall remain in effect with respect to any particular tract
or parcel of land only so long as such tract or parcel remains within the
exterior boundaries of such a withdrawal. The laws of the State of Alaska shall
not apply to areas within any special national defense withdrawal established
under this section while such areas remain subject to the exclusive jurisdiction
hereby authorized: Provided, however, That such exclusive jurisdiction shall not
prevent the execution of any process, civil or criminal, of the State of Alaska,
upon any person found within said withdrawals: And provided further, That such
exclusive jurisdiction shall not prohibit the State of Alaska from enacting and
enforcing all laws necessary to establish voting districts, and the
qualification and procedures for voting in all elections.
(d) During the continuance in effect of any special national defense
withdrawal established under this section, or until the Congress otherwise
provides, such exclusive jurisdiction shall be exercised within each such
withdrawal in accordance with the following provisions of law: (1) All laws
enacted by the Congress that are of general application to areas under the
exclusive jurisdiction of the United States, including, but without limiting the
generality of the foregoing, those provisions of title 18, United States Code,
that are applicable within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of
the United States as defined in section 7 of said title, shall apply to all
areas within such withdrawals. (2) In addition, any areas within the withdrawals
that are reserved by Act of Congress or by Executive action for a particular
military or civilian use of the United States shall be subject to all laws
enacted by the Congress that have application to lands withdrawn for that
particular use, and any other areas within the withdrawals shall be subject to
all laws enacted by the Congress that are of general application to lands
withdrawn for defense purposes of the United States. (3) To the extent
consistent with the laws described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection
and with regulations made or other actions taken under their authority, all laws
in force within such withdrawals immediately prior to the creation thereof by
Executive order or proclamation shall apply within the withdrawals and, for this
purpose, are adopted as laws of the United States: Provided, however, That the
laws of the State or Territory relating to the organization or powers of
municipalities or local political subdivisions, and the laws or ordinances of
such municipalities or political subdivisions shall not be adopted as laws of
the United States. (4) All functions vested in the United States commissioners
by the laws described in this subsection shall continue to be performed within
the withdrawals by such commissioners. (5) All functions vested in any municipal
corporation, school district, or other local political subdivision by the laws
described in this subsection shall continue to be performed within the
withdrawals by such corporation, district, or other subdivision, and the laws of
the State or the laws or ordinances of such municipalities or local political
subdivision shall remain in full force and effect notwithstanding any withdrawal
made under this section. (6) All other functions vested in the government of
Alaska or in any officer or agency thereof, except judicial functions over which
the United States District Court for the District of Alaska is given
jurisdiction by this act or other provisions of law, shall be performed within
the withdrawals by such civilian individuals or civilian agencies and in such
manner as the President shall from time to time, by Executive order, direct or
authorize. (7) The United States District Court for the District of Alaska shall
have original jurisdiction, without regard to the sum or value of any matter in
controversy, over all civil actions arising within such withdrawals under the
laws made applicable thereto by this subsection, as well as over all offenses
committed within the withdrawals.
(e) Nothing contained in subsection (d) of this section shall be
construed as limiting the exclusive jurisdiction established in the United
States by subsection (c) of this section or the authority of the Congress to
implement such exclusive jurisdiction by appropriate legislation, or as denying
to persons now or hereafter residing within any portion of the areas described
in subsection (b) of this section the right to vote at all elections held within
the political subdivisions as prescribed by the State of Alaska where they
respectively reside, or as limiting the jurisdiction conferred on the United
States District Court for the District of Alaska by any other provision of law,
or as continuing in effect laws relating to the Legislature of the Territory of
Alaska. Nothing contained in this section shall be construed as limiting any
authority otherwise vested in the Congress or the President.
SEC. 11.
(a) Nothing in this Act shall affect the establishment,
or the right, ownership, and authority of the United States in Mount McKinley
National Park, as now or hereafter constituted; but exclusive jurisdiction, in
all cases, shall be exercised by the United States for the national park, as now
or hereafter constituted; saving, however, to the State of Alaska the right to
serve civil or criminal process within the limits of the aforesaid park in suits
or prosecutions for or on account of rights acquired, obligations incurred, or
crimes committed in said State, but outside of said park; and saving further to
the said State the right to tax persons and corporations, their franchises and
property on the lands included in said park; and saving also to the persons
residing now or hereafter in such area the right to vote at all elections held
within the respective political subdivisions of their residence in which the
park is situated.
(b) Notwithstanding the admission of the State of Alaska into the
Union, authority is reserved in the United States, subject to the proviso
hereinafter set forth, for the exercise by the Congress of the United States of
the power of exclusive legislation, as provided by article I, section 8, clause
17, of the Constitution of the United States, in all cases whatsoever over such
tracts or parcels of land as, immediately prior to the admission of said State,
are owned by the United States and held for military, naval, Air Force, or Coast
Guard purposes, including naval petroleum reserve numbered 4, whether such lands
were acquired by cession and transfer to the United States by Russia and set
aside by Act of Congress or by Executive order or proclamation of the President
or the Governor of Alaska for the use of the United States, or were acquired by
the United States by purchase, condemnation, donation, exchange, or otherwise:
Provided, (i) That the State of Alaska shall always have the right to serve
civil or criminal process within the said tracts or parcels of land in suits or
prosecutions for or on account of rights acquired, obligations incurred, or
crimes committed within the said State but outside of the said tracts or parcels
of land; (ii) that the reservation of authority in the United States for the
exercise by the Congress of the United States of the power of exclusive
legislation over the lands aforesaid shall not operate to prevent such lands
from being a part of the State of Alaska, or to prevent the said State from
exercising over or upon such lands, concurrently with the United States, any
jurisdiction whatsoever which it would have in the absence of such reservation
of authority and which is consistent with the laws hereafter enacted by the
Congress pursuant to such reservation of authority; and (iii) that such power of
exclusive legislation shall rest and remain in the United States only so long as
the particular tract or parcel of land involved is owned by the United States
and used for military, naval, Air Force, or Coast Guard purposes. The provisions
of this subsection shall not apply to lands within such special national defense
withdrawal or withdrawals as may be established pursuant to section 10 of this
Act until such lands cease to be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction reserved
to the United States by that section.
SEC. 12.
Effective upon the admission of Alaska into the Union
(a) The analysis of chapter 5 of title 28, United States Code,
immediately preceding section 81 of such title, is amended by inserting
immediately after and underneath item 81 of such analysis, a new item to be
designated as item 81A and to read as follows: "81A Alaska";
(b) Title 28, United States Code, is amended by inserting immediately
after section 81 thereof a new section, to be designated as section 81A, and to
read as follows: "(section) 81A. Alaska "Alaska constitutes one judicial
district. "Court shall be held at Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, and Nome.";
(c) Section 133 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by
inserting in the table of districts and judges in such section immediately above
the item: "Arizona * * * 2", a new item as follows: "Alaska * * * 1";
(d) The first paragraph of section 373 of title 28, United States
Code, as heretofore amended, is further amended by striking out the words: "the
District Court for the Territory of Alaska,": Provided, That the amendment made
by this subsection shall not affect the rights of any judge who may have retired
before it takes effect;
(e) The words "the District Court for the Territory of Alaska," are
stricken out wherever they appear in sections 333, 460, 610, 753, 1252, 1291,
1292, and 1346 of title 28, United States Code;
(f) The first paragraph of section 1252 of title 28, United States
Code, is further amended by striking out the word "Alaska," from the clause
relating to courts of record;
(g) Subsection (2) of section 1294 of title 28, United States Code, is
repealed and the later subsections of such section are renumbered accordingly;
(h) Subsection (a) of section 2410 of title 28, United States Code, is
amended by striking out the words: "including the District Court for the
Territory of Alaska,";
(i) Section 3241 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by
striking out the words: "District Court for the Territory of Alaska, the";
(j) Subsection (e) of section 3401 of title 18, United States Code, is
amended by striking out the words: "for Alaska or";
(k) Section 3771 of title 18, United States Code, as heretofore
amended, is further amended by striking out from the first paragraph of such
section the words: "the Territory of Alaska,";
(l) Section 3772 of title 18, United States Code, as heretofore
amended, is further amended by striking out from the first paragraph of such
section the words: "the Territory of Alaska," ;
(m) Section 2072 of title 28, United States Code, as heretofore
amended, is further amended by striking out from the first paragraph of such
section the words: "and of the District Court for the Territory of Alaska";
(n) Subsection (q) of section 376 of title 28, United States Code, is
amended by striking out the words: "the District Court for the Territory of
Alaska,": Provided, That the amendment made by this subsection shall not affect
the rights under such section 376 of any present or former judge of the District
Court for the Territory of Alaska or his survivors;
(o) The last paragraph of section 1963 of title 28, United States
Code, is repealed;
(p) Section 2201 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by
striking out the words: "and the District Court for the Territory of Alaska";
and
(q) Section 4 of the Act of July 28, 1950 (64 Stat. 380; 5 U. S. C.,
sec. 341b) is amended by striking out the word: "Alaska,".
SEC. 13.
No writ, action, indictment, cause, or proceeding pending in
the District Court for the Territory of Alaska on the date when said Territory
shall become a State, and no case pending in an appellate court upon appeal from
the District Court for the Territory of Alaska at the time said Territory shall
become a State, shall abate by the admission of the State of Alaska into the
Union, but the same shall be transferred and proceeded with as hereinafter
provided. All civil causes of action and all criminal offenses which shall have
arisen or been committed prior to the admission of said State, but as to which
no suit, action, or prosecution shall be pending at the date of such admission,
shall be subject to prosecution in the appropriate State courts or in the United
States District Court for the District of Alaska in like manner, to the same
extent, and with like right of appellate review, as if said State had been
created and said courts had been established prior to the accrual of said causes
of action or the commission of such offenses; and such of said criminal offenses
as shall have been committed against the laws of the Territory shall be tried
and punished by the appropriate courts of said State, and such as shall have
been committed against the laws of the United States shall be tried and punished
in the United States District Court for the District of Alaska.
SEC. 14.
All appeals taken from the District Court for the Territory of
Alaska to the Supreme Court of the United States or the United States Court of
Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, previous to the admission of Alaska as a State,
shall be prosecuted to final determination as though this act had not been
passed. All cases in which final judgment has been rendered in such district
court, and in which appeals might be had except for the admission of such State,
may still be sued out, taken, and prosecuted to the Supreme Court of the United
States or the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit under the
provisions of then existing law, and there held and determined in like manner;
and in either case, the Supreme Court of the United States, or the United States
Court of Appeals, in the event of reversal, shall remand the said cause to
either the State supreme court or other final appellate court of said State, or
the United States district court for said district, as the case may require:
Provided, That the time allowed by existing law for appeals from the district
court for said Territory shall not be enlarged thereby.
SEC. 15.
All causes pending or determined in the District Court for the
Territory of Alaska at the time of the admission of Alaska as a State which are
of such nature as to be within the jurisdiction of a district court of the
United States shall be transferred to the United States District Court for the
District of Alaska for final disposition and enforcement in the same manner as
is now provided by law with reference to the judgments and decrees in existing
United States district courts. All other causes pending or determined in the
District Court for the Territory of Alaska at the time of the admission of
Alaska as a State shall be transferred to the appropriate State court of Alaska.
All final judgments and decrees rendered upon such transferred cases in the
United States District Court for the District of Alaska may be reviewed by the
Supreme Court of the United States or by the United States Court of Appeals for
the Ninth Circuit in the same manner as is now provided by law with reference to
the judgments and decrees in existing United States district courts.
SEC. 16.
Jurisdiction of all cases pending or determined in the District
Court for the Territory of Alaska not transferred to the United States District
Court for the District of Alaska shall devolve upon and be exercised by the
courts of original jurisdiction created by said State, which shall be deemed to
be the successor of the District Court for the Territory of Alaska with respect
to cases not so transferred and, as such, shall take and retain custody of all
records, dockets, journals, and files of such court pertaining to such cases.
The files and papers in all cases so transferred to the United States district
court, together with a transcript of all book entries to complete the record in
such particular cases so transferred, shall be in like manner transferred to
said district court.
SEC. 17.
All cases pending in the District Court for the Territory of
Alaska at the time said Territory becomes a State not transferred to the United
States District Court for the District of Alaska shall be proceeded with and
determined by the courts created by said State with the right to prosecute
appeals to the appellate courts created by said State, and also with the same
right to prosecute appeals or writs of certiorari from the final determination
in said causes made by the court of last resort created by such State to the
Supreme Court of the United States, as now provided by law for appeals and writs
of certiorari from the court of last resort of a State to the Supreme Court of
the United States.
SEC. 18.
The provisions of the preceding sections with respect to the
termination of the Jurisdiction of the District Court for the Territory of
Alaska, the continuation of suits, the succession of courts, and the
satisfaction of rights of litigants in suits before such courts, shall not be
effective until three years after the effective date of this Act, unless the
President, by Executive order, shall sooner proclaim that the United States
District Court for the District of Alaska, established in accordance with the
provisions of this Act, is prepared to assume the functions imposed upon it.
During such period of three years or until such Executive order is issued, the
United States District Court for the Territory of Alaska shall continue to
function as heretofore. The tenure of the judges, the United States attorneys,
marshals, and other officers of the United States District Court for the
Territory of Alaska shall terminate at such time as that court shall cease to
function as provided in this section.
SEC. 19.
The first paragraph of section 2 of the Federal Reserve Act (38
Stat. 251) is amended by striking out the last sentence thereof and inserting in
lieu of such sentence the following: "When the State of Alaska is hereafter
admitted to the Union the Federal Reserve districts shall be readjusted by the
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in such manner as to include
such State. Every national bank in any State shall, upon commencing business or
within ninety days after admission into the Union of the State in which it is
located, become a member bank of the Federal Reserve System by subscribing and
paying for stock in the Federal Reserve bank of its district in accordance with
the provisions of this Act and shall thereupon be an insured bank under the
Federal Deposit Insurance Act, and failure to do so shall subject such bank to
the penalty provided by the sixth paragraph of this section."
SEC. 20.
Section 2 of the Act of October 20, 1914 (38 Stat. 742; 48 U.
S. C., sec. 433), is hereby repealed.
SEC. 21.
Nothing contained in this Act shall operate to confer United
States nationality, nor to terminate nationality heretofore lawfully acquired,
nor restore nationality heretofore lost under any law of the United States or
under any treaty to which the United States may have been a party.
SEC. 22.
Section 101 (a) (36) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (66
Stat. 170, 8 U. S. C., sec. 1101 (a) (36)) is amended by deleting the word
"Alaska,".
SEC. 23.
The first sentence of section 212 (d) (7) of the Immigration
and Nationality Act (66 Stat. 188, 8 U. S. C., sec. 1182 (d) (7)) is amended by
deleting the word "Alaska,".
SEC. 24.
Nothing contained in this Act shall be held to repeal, amend,
or modify the provisions of section 304 of the Immigration and Nationality Act
(66 Stat. 237, 8 U. S. C., sec. 1404).
SEC. 25.
The first sentence of section 310 (a) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (66 Stat. 239, 8 U. S. C., sec. 1421 (a)) is amended by deleting
the words "District Courts of the United States for the Territories of Hawaii
and Alaska" and substituting therefor the words "District Court of the United
States for the Territory of Hawaii".
SEC. 26.
Section 344 (d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. (66
Stat. 265, 8 U. S. C., sec. 1455 (d)) is amended by deleting the words "in
Alaska and".
SEC. 27.
(a) The third proviso in section 27 of the Merchant
Marine Act, 1920, as amended (46 U. S. C., sec. 883), is further amended by
striking out the word "excluding" and inserting in lieu thereof the word
"including".
(b) Nothing contained in this or any other Act shall be construed as
depriving the Federal Maritime Board of the exclusive jurisdiction heretofore
conferred on it over common carriers engaged in transportation by water between
any port in the State of Alaska and other ports in the United States, its
Territories or possessions, or as conferring upon the Interstate Commerce
Commission jurisdiction over transportation by water between any such ports.
SEC. 28.
(a) The last sentence of section 9 of the Act entitled
"An Act to provide for the leasing of coal lands in the Territory of Alaska, and
for other purposes", approved October 20, 1914 (48 U. S. C. 439), is hereby
amended to read as follows: "All net profits from operation of Government mines,
and all bonuses, royalties, and rentals under leases as herein provided and all
other payments received under this Act shall be distributed as follows as soon
as practicable after December 31 and June 30 of each year: (1) 90 per centum
thereof shall be paid by the Secretary of the Treasury to the State of Alaska
for disposition by the legislature thereof; and (2) 10 per centum shall be
deposited in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of miscellaneous
receipts."
(b) Section 35 of the Act entitled "An Act to promote the mining of
coal, phosphate, oil, oil shale, gas, and sodium on the public domain", approved
February 25, 1920, as amended (30 U. S. C. 191), is hereby amended by inserting
immediately before the colon preceding the first proviso thereof the following:
", and of those from Alaska 52 1/2 per centum thereof shall be paid to the State
of Alaska for disposition by the legislature thereof".
SEC. 29.
If any provision of this Act, or any section, subsection,
sentence, clause, phrase, or individual word, or the application thereof to any
person or circumstance is held invalid, the validity of the remainder of the Act
and of the application of any such provision, section, subsection, sentence,
clause, phrase, or individual word to other persons and circumstances shall not
be affected thereby.
SEC. 30.
All Acts or parts of Acts in conflict with the provisions of
this Act, whether passed by the legislature of said Territory or by Congress,
are hereby repealed.
Approved July 7, 1958. |
