Paula L. Hart, an enrolled member of the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe in New York state, was appointed Director of the Indian Affairs Office of Indian Gaming in the U.S. Department of the Interior on February 1, 2010. Prior to her appointment, Ms. Hart had served as the office’s acting director since May 2008.
Reporting to the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs, the OIG Director is responsible for, in addition to budget, personnel and administrative matters, overseeing the development of policies and procedures used to implement the Secretary’s responsibilities under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 (IGRA) relating to land acquisition requests from federally recognized tribes for gaming purposes, tribal-state gaming compacts, tribal gaming per capita distribution plans, and gaming-related contracts and secretarial procedures for Class III casino-type gaming.
Ms. Hart’s federal career began in March 1993 when she joined the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ ranks as a Rights Protection Specialist in its Eastern Area Office (now Eastern Regional Office), then located in Arlington, Va., where she assisted federally recognized tribes with boundary disputes, treaty issues and tax rights.
In June 1994, she joined the Interior Department’s newly established office on tribal gaming as a Management Analyst where she was tasked with developing the initial national guidance for Indian Country on gaming matters – some of which is still being used today.
From July 1997 to May 2005, Ms. Hart served as a Paralegal Specialist under the Director of the Office of Indian Gaming Management (now the Office of Indian Gaming). As such, she assisted the director and senior operating staff on all legal matters concerning tribal government operations and authorities relating to Indian gaming operations.
In May 2005, Ms. Hart was promoted to Deputy Director of the Office of Indian Gaming Management. In that post she held supervisory responsibilities and served in an advisory capacity to the OIGM Director, the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs and senior IA officials on the formulation and development of the BIA’s national gaming programs to ensure compliance with IGRA and DOI policies, regulations and guidelines.
She also served from May 2008 to May 2009 as the acting Chief of Staff to the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs where she advised on matters relating to human resources, budget and administrative functions of IA offices and programs. She also worked on special projects concerning a variety of issues including federal acknowledgment, economic development, finance and tribal governance.
Ms. Hart holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y. (1984) and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Maryland’s School of Law in Baltimore (1990). She has been a member of the State Bar of Maryland since 1992.
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