NIGC Annual Adjustment of Civil Monetary Penalty to Reflect Inflation

On January 18, 2022, the National Indian Gaming Commission (“NIGC”) published a final rule in the Federal Register amending its civil monetary penalty rule to reflect an annual adjustment for inflation. This change was made pursuant to the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 and guidance from the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”), which established a “cost-of-living adjustment multiplier” of 1.06222 for 2022.

In accordance with this OMB guidance, the NIGC has calculated an increase of the maximum civil monetary penalty under 25 C.F.R. § 575.4 from $54,157 to $57,527 per violation. This new penalty level will apply to penalties assessed after January 15, 2022, including when the penalties whose associated violation predate the increase.

This final rule, as published in the Federal Register, may be found here.

If you have any questions concerning this alert, please contact Danielle Her Many Horses at [email protected].