Eviction case moves to federal court
Feb. 24, 2000

SHERRILL — The Oneida Indian Nation has made a federal case out of Sherrill’s move to evict it from property on Route 5.

The city filed an eviction notice on the Oneida Nation last week, ordering it to vacate three parcels on Route 5 for failure to pay almost $3,000 in property taxes.

Sherrill City Court Judge Neal Rose was scheduled to hear the eviction case this afternoon, but the Oneida Nation Wednesday filed legal papers to move the case into the U.S. District Court in Syracuse.

In a news release, the Nation stated, “Because the federal government controls all matters dealing with possession of Indian lands, the U.S. District Court in Syracuse has jurisdiction over Sherrill’s suit to remove the nation from its land.”

City Manager David Barker said Rose and city attorneys advised him and Mayor Dwight Evans that the Oneidas’ motion “automatically moves it into federal court” and out of the city’s jurisdiction.

The Route 5 land is occupied by the nation’s OTD textile plant and a SavOn convenience store.

The nation has not paid property taxes on any of the approximately 12,000 acres it has purchased in Oneida and Madison counties in the past several years. It contends it is a sovereign nation and that the property lies within treaty areas granted it in the late 18th century. About 250,000 acres in the two counties is involved in the land claim.