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TAHLEQUAH, OK - The Cherokee Nation Tribal Council confirmed Stacy Leeds appointment to the Cherokee Nation's highest court during the August Council meeting Monday night.

Leeds, who was nominated by Principal Chief Chad Smith, was approved by a 12-2 vote by the Council. Leeds has been an assistant law professor and director of the Northern Plains Indian Law Center at the University of North Dakota School of Law for the past two years and begins working this fall as a visiting law professor and interim director of the Tribal Law and Governance Center at the University of Kansas School of Law. Leeds previously stated that she would move to Fort Gibson if she was confirmed.

"It's time to fill out the change of address card", Leeds said after her confirmation.

"Stacy Leeds not only has outstanding academic credentials, but her experience on other tribal courts should also help her become a great Cherokee jurist", Chief Smith said. “The decisions of our JAT would be much richer and culturally based if we had a female perspective on the court." The Council also confirmed Smith's nomination of Jim Hummingbird to the Cherokee Nation Tax Commission.

In other Council news Monday night, the Council appropriated an additional $12,000 for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), $50,000 for scholarships and $50,000 for the Cherokee Heritage Center. The Council also authorized the continuation of the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) programs at Claremore Indian Hospital, W.W. Hastings Indian Hospital and the Indian Health Care Resources Center in Tulsa.