The Navajo Nation's longest-serving judge has been designated to oversee the tribe's Judicial Branch.
A Navajo Nation Council committee named Allen Sloan as acting chief justice this week using broad authority under the tribal code.
The code doesn't address a vacancy in the chief justice's position. The Law and Order Committee says the designation will ensure justice is administered on the Navajo Nation.
Tribal Council spokesman Jared Touchin says the resolution doesn't require action by the full council.
Herb Yazzie retired earlier this year and tapped Eleanor Shirley as the acting chief justice.
Lawmakers say the law didn't allow for that.
Sloan has been a Navajo Nation district judge for 26 years, most recently in the Tuba City district. He previously was in private practice.
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