Case Explained: Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, a federally recognized Indian tribe v. United States Department of Interior; United States Bureau of Indian Affairs; Krissanne Stevens, or her successor, Awarding Official for the Bureau of Indian Affairs Great Plains Region; United States of America; Doug Burgum, Secretary United States Department of the Interior; Bryan Mercier, Acting Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs; Stephanie Conduff, Acting Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit

Filed: 2026-07-09

The eighth-circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe’s claims and its grant of summary judgment to the United States Department of the Interior regarding disallowed costs under the Tribally Controlled Schools Act (TCSA) and the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDEAA). The court held that the Tribe failed to exhaust mandatory administrative remedies, thereby depriving the district court of subject matter jurisdiction. The court applied the Contracts Dispute Act (CDA), which is incorporated into the ISDEAA for TCSA grants, establishing a strict one-year statute of limitations for filing appeals in federal district court after receiving a final decision from a contracting officer. The BIA’s Findings and Determinations Reports for fiscal years 2016, 2017, and 2018 constituted final decisions that triggered this deadline. Because the Tribe did not appeal these reports within twelve months of receipt, the decisions became final and binding under 41 U.S.C. § 7103(g). The court rejected the Tribe’s arguments that defective notice letters or internal BIA memos suspended the limitations period, noting that such arguments were waived because they were not raised in the district court. Furthermore, the court ruled that the CDA does not permit a contractor to unilaterally adjust final debt amounts through “prior period adjustments” in subsequent audits, as doing so would negate the statutory requirement for finality and exhaustiveness of administrative decisions. As a practical consequence, the Tribe’s claims challenging the disallowance of costs and the government’s collection offsets were dismissed without review on the merits. The district court’s determination that the Tribe owes $1,013,873.36 regarding the FY 2017 debt stands, and the government is authorized to continue collecting the outstanding balance through offsets against funds owed to the Tribe.

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