It is hard to believe that my first year back at CILS has already arrived. This past year has been extremely eventful for CILS. We have experienced some major transitions that all of us here at CILS believe will benefit our Native communities in California.

We started off this year by closing our Oakland office so that the Principal office could be relocated to Escondido and so that we could open a new field office in Sacramento. We also closed our Santa Rosa office, which is now served by the Sacramento location. The relocation of the Principal office has proved successful and we have settled in nicely. It is a pleasure working with the Principal office staff and...

getting to interact with the Escondido field office staff as well. The move to Sacramento has certainly met our communities’ approval. Numerous tribal and individual clients have expressed their feeling that the Sacramento location better serves the Indian communities in that service territory as well as providing CILS staff easy access to the State capitol and all that comes with this major governmental center. Tribal governments have a daily presence in Sacramento and CILS proximity to this local will greatly contribute to the success of the office and CILS overall. Also located in Sacramento are countless federal and state agencies that CILS has engaged with over the years that are vital for our advocacy of our California Indian community.

CILS is also excited to announce the addition of Dorinda Strmiska, our new attorney in our Sacramento office. Dorinda joining our team will certainly increase our ability to better serve our tribal clients. CILS has a host of ongoing projects that Dorinda has wasted no time in getting familiar with as well as reaching out to get to know the Sacramento client community. One of our newest projects is our Tribal Justice Initiative. This project will allow CILS to continue our Tribal Court advocacy work by reaching out to interested tribes to assist them in whatever state of court development they are in. Whether a tribe is starting from the beginning and needs codes and ordinances or whether they are up and running but need assistance with negotiating with local state agencies for cooperative agreements, CILS is available. This project also includes advocacy and assistance with issues related to tribal law enforcement and state and local government relations.

CILS continues our Indian Child Welfare Act advocacy by preparing to release our most recent version of the ICWA Benchguide early next year. We are also working on an ICWA Worker guide for tribal ICWA workers who appear in State court on behalf of tribes. We also continue to provide community education on the American Indian Probate Reform Act (AIPRA) and to draft Wills for Indian individuals who hold trust land or other trust assets. Please look for the next event near you. We are confident these resources and community events will contribute to the betterment of our tribal communities and to CILS’ goal of providing high caliber legal services to California Indians. Again, CILS is enthusiastic about the things to come to the organization.