---
kind: "section"
citation: "25 U.S.C. § 3206"
title: "25"
title_heading: "Indians"
number: "3206"
heading: "Waiver of parental consent"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/25/3206"
units:
  - "Chapter 34 — Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention"
---

# §3206. Waiver of parental consent

- (a) **Examinations and interviews—** Photographs, x-rays, medical examinations, psychological examinations, and interviews of an [Indian child](/usc/25/3202.md?p=7) alleged to have been subject to abuse in [Indian country](/usc/25/3202.md?p=8) shall be allowed without parental consent if local [child](/usc/25/3202.md?p=2) protective [services](/usc/25/3202.md?p=18) or local law enforcement officials have reason to believe the [child](/usc/25/3202.md?p=2) has been subject to abuse.
- (b) **Interviews by law enforcement and child protective services officials—** In any case in which officials of the [local law enforcement agency](/usc/25/3202.md?p=13) or [local child protective services agency](/usc/25/3202.md?p=12) have reason to believe that an [Indian child](/usc/25/3202.md?p=7) has been subject to abuse in [Indian country](/usc/25/3202.md?p=8), the officials of those agencies shall be allowed to interview the [child](/usc/25/3202.md?p=2) without first obtaining the consent of the parent, guardian, or legal custodian.
- (c) **Protection of child—** Examinations and interviews of a [child](/usc/25/3202.md?p=2) who may have been the subject of abuse shall be conducted under such circumstances and with such safeguards as are designed to minimize additional trauma to the [child](/usc/25/3202.md?p=2) and, where time permits, shall be conducted with the advise,[^1] or under the guidance, of a local multidisciplinary team established pursuant to [section 3210 of this title](/usc/25/3210.md) or, in the absence of a local team, a multidisciplinary team established pursuant to [section 3209 of this title](/usc/25/3209.md).
- (d) **Court orders—** Upon a finding of reasonable suspicion that an [Indian child](/usc/25/3202.md?p=7) has been the subject of abuse in [Indian country](/usc/25/3202.md?p=8), a Federal magistrate judge or United States District Court may issue an order enforcing any provision of this section.

## Footnotes

[^1]: So in original. Probably should be “advice”.

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 101–630, title IV, § 407, Nov. 28, 1990, 104 Stat. 4550; Pub. L. 101–650, title III, § 321, Dec. 1, 1990, 104 Stat. 5117.)

## Notes

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Change of Name

“Federal magistrate judge” substituted for “Federal magistrate” in subsec. (d) pursuant to section 321 of Pub. L. 101–650, set out as a note under section 631 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.