Skip to main content
GrantsPathGrantsPath
Log InSign Up

Policy Watchtower/Final rule

BIA publishes Ohkay Owingeh's amended Liquor Control Ordinance, effective Oct. 21, 2026

Interior DepartmentFinal ruleOct 21, 2026

Check: The Bureau of Indian Affairs published Ohkay Owingeh's amended Liquor Control Ordinance, which replaces the 1989 ordinance and takes effect October 21, 2026.

Read in the Federal Register

What it does

The Secretary of the Interior certified the amended ordinance under 18 U.S.C. 1161. It regulates the consumption, possession, production, and sale of alcoholic beverages on Ohkay Owingeh Tribal Lands and applies to members and non-members alike. Businesses and event organizers selling alcohol on those lands, including tribal enterprises, work under the new licensing rules (Package, On-Premises, and Special Event Licenses) administered by the Tribal Gaming Commission.

Why it matters for tribal funding

Jurisdiction and sovereignty. It touches tribal authority, trust land or treaty rights, which can change what programs a tribe administers.

Who it covers: Tribal governments, Tribal enterprises.

What to do next

  1. Businesses or event organizers planning to sell alcohol on Ohkay Owingeh Tribal Lands: review the ordinance's license classes and application requirements; Special Event License applications are due to the Tribal Gaming Commission at least 60 days before the event.
  2. Enterprises owned or controlled by the Tribe: file the premises map and description with the Tribal Gaming Commission, which the ordinance treats as holding a Package or On-Premises License.
  3. Direct questions about the notice to Sophia J. Torres, Acting Tribal Government Specialist, BIA Southwest Regional Office, (505) 536-3304.

Sources

Every signal is built from public records. The highlighted words appear in the source exactly as shown.

  • Federal Register: tribal termsNoticeOct 21, 2026

    Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico-Liquor Control Ordinance Amendment

    • Quoted from the source: “This Ordinance shall become effective October 21, 2026.”
    • Quoted from the source: “which amends and replaces the previous liquor control ordinance published on December 26, 1989.”
    • Quoted from the source: “An enterprise which is not owned or controlled by the Tribe must apply to the Tribal Gaming Commission”
    Read in the Federal RegisterU.S. government record, public domain.

Terms with a dotted underline open a plain-language definition. This is guidance, not legal advice: the official text always controls. A free public service from GrantsPath, a Native-owned business.