Federal enclave

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In United States law, a federal enclave is a parcel of federal property within a state that is under the "Special Maritime and Territorial Jurisdiction of the United States".[1] These enclaves are used for the many different functions of the US federal government, and include post offices, arsenals, dams, road, etc., and usually are owned, secured and administered by the US federal government itself. The US in many cases has received similar jurisdictional authority over privately owned properties which it leases, or privately owned and occupied properties which are located within the exterior boundaries of a large area (such as the District of Columbia and various national parks) as to which a state has ceded jurisdiction to the US.[2]

In 1960, the year of the latest comprehensive inquiry,[3] 7% of federal property had enclave status. Of the land with federal enclave status, 57% (4% of federal property, almost all in Alaska and Hawaii) was under "concurrent" state jurisdiction. The remaining 43% (3% of federal property), on which some state laws do not apply, was scattered throughout the US. In 1960, there were about 5,000 enclaves, with about one million people living on them.[3]: 146  While a comprehensive inquiry has not been performed since 1960, these statistics are likely much lower today, since many federal enclaves were military bases that have been closed and transferred out of federal ownership.

Since late 1950s, it has been an official federal policy that the states should have full concurrent jurisdiction on all federal enclaves,[4] an approach endorsed by some legal experts.[5][6][7]

  1. ^ 18 U.S.C. §7(3).
  2. ^ United States Department of Justice Criminal Resource Manual § 1630.
  3. ^ a b Federal legislative jurisdiction: report. Washington, D.C.: Public Land Law Review Commission, Land and Natural Resources Division, U.S. Dept. of Justice. 1969. hdl:2027/wu.89042039859.
  4. ^ U.S. Report of the Interdepartmental Committee for the Study of Jurisdiction over Federal Areas Within the States, Part 1, The Facts and Committee Recommendations (1956) (hereafter "1956 Report") at 70.
  5. ^ Roger W. Haines, Jr., Federal Enclave Law (Atlas Books 2011) pp. 9, 213.
  6. ^ Stephen E. Castlen and Gregory O. Block, "Exclusive Federal Legislative Jurisdiction: Get Rid of It!", 154 Mil. L. Rev. 113 (1997).
  7. ^ David E. Engdahl, "State and Federal Power over Federal Property", 18 Ariz. L. Rev. 283, 336, n.228 (1976) ("No extensive patchwork of nationalized acreages created here and there out of the territory of the states, even with state consent, could have been intended.").