Criminally, the Court of Indian Offenses is a limited jurisdiction court that tries misdemeanor violations of Title 25 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as well as violations of tribal codes, with permission of the tribe.
Civilly, the CFR court holds full civil jurisdiction over matters in its territory.
However, U.S, Attorneys often decline to prosecute felony cases in Indian Country, which leads CFR court prosecutors to prosecute felony offenders using lesser included misdemeanor offenses in order to ensure that serious offenders receive at least some jail time.
This happened in the case of Denezpi v. United States, where the suspect, Merle Denezpi, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, raped a female enrolled member of the Navajo Nation on the reservation of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe.
Denezpi plead not guilty under an Alford plea, and was sentenced to time served.