NEW TOWN – A review hearing on a lawsuit filed against the Three Affiliated Tribes’ business council over alleged financial mismanagement will be held Thursday before Judge B.J. Jones for Fort Berthold District Court. The hearing will be held at 1 p.m. at the MHA Public Safety & Judicial Center in New Town.

Six members of the Three Affiliated Tribes filed the lawsuit against members of the business council on Sept. 5, 2023, in tribal court.

The lawsuit filed by the six members of the Three Affiliated Tribes against the tribal business council members is over financial mismanagement. The petitioners are asking a judge to order the council to sell property in Las Vegas purchased by the tribe in late 2022, return the money to the People’s Fund and refrain from buying more Las Vegas property until a resolution is passed authorizing the spending, according to a September 2023 story published in The Minot Daily News.

According to the story, the council also must provide a full list of accounts with detailed statements and conduct audits for all years in which audits haven’t been performed, plaintiffs argue.

The petitioners are requesting the court to direct the business council to follow the tribal constitution and bylaws, respect the enrollment of the tribes’ civil rights and to be transparent and accountable as applicable in the constitution and bylaws.