Albert Austin Hale

Legislative Resolution

View Legislative Resolution File for Albert Austin Hale

Biographical Information

Sen. Jack C. Jackson, Sr. resigned December 31, 2003.   He became Vice President of the Board of DINE' DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION in 2004.   He was replaced by Albert Hale who was appointed January 20, 2004 and sworn in January 21, 2004 as Senator for District 2 (Journal of the Senate, 46th Legislature, 2nd Regular Session, 2004, p. 537)

50th Legislature, 1st Regular Session, SR 1002 Native American legislators; recognition:  Albert Hale, Navajo, 2004-2010 [also serving in the 50th Legislature]  The following is from ALIS for the 50th Arizona State Legislature, 1st Regular Session (2011):

Albert Hale  
Democrat  District 2
House of Representatives
1700 W. Washington
Room 334
Phoenix, AZ 85007
Phone Number: (602) 926-4323
Fax Number: (602) 417-3160
Email Address: [email protected]
Home City: St. Michaels
Occupation: Attorney
Member Since: 2004
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Hale Law Firm:
Post Office Box 4440
Window Rock, AZ 85615
Ph: (928) 871-4559
Fax: (928) 871-4560
Albert A. Hale, aka “Ahbihay”, served in the Arizona State Senate from January 2004 to January 2011. He was elected to the Arizona House of Representatives in November 2010. Representative. Hale served as the President of the Navajo Nation from 1995 to 1998. He also served as an Assistant Attorney General for the Navajo Nation and special counsel to the Navajo Nation Council. He served as a Judge Pro Temp for the Laguna Tribal Courts, Laguna Pueblo, Laguna, New Mexico.

He served as the Chairman of the Navajo Nation Water Rights Commission, a Commission established to oversee and coordinate the Navajo Nation’s water rights and related litigation and negotiation efforts. During his tenure on the Commission, New Mexico and the Navajo Nation negotiated the San Juan River Basin Water Right Settlement Agreement. The Settlement Agreement was signed on April 19, 2005 and subsequently approved by the United States Congress.

Representative Hale has a private law practice with offices located in St. Michaels, Arizona. He represents Navajo and non-Navajo clients in federal, state and various Indian Nations courts including Navajo Nation. His clientele include the Navajo Engineering and Construction Authority (an enterprise of the Navajo Nation) and companies doing business on the Navajo Nation.

He is a member of the New Mexico State Bar Association and the Navajo Nation Bar Association. He is admitted to practice in the U.S. Federal Courts, New Mexico State Courts, the Navajo Nation Courts, and various Indian Nation Courts. He has been practicing law for over 34-years, mostly in private practice. His law practice concentrates on representing businesses on Indian Nations. He served as the President of the Navajo Nation Bar Association.

In 1999, he along with the Branch Law Firm of Albuquerque, New Mexico, filed a lawsuit against the tobacco companies on behalf of several Indian Nations pursuant to the Tobacco Settlement Agreement.  In late 1970s, he along with Honorable Stewart Udall, Honorable Senator Tom Udall, and William Mahoney filed a lawsuit against the United States and uranium mining companies on behalf of former uranium miners.  The lawsuit resulted in the enactment of the Uranium Miners Compensation Act which provide for compensation to miners and deceased miners’ surviving spouse or children.

He is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation; born in Ganado and raised in Klagetoh, Arizona. He is Ashiihi (Salt), born for Todichiini (Bitter Water). His maternal grandparents are Hanaghani (Walk About clan). His paternal grandparents are Kiyanii (Tall House clan). He is a 1969 graduate of Fort Wingate High School, a Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding school located east of Gallup, New Mexico. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona (1973) and a Juris Doctorate degree from the University Of New Mexico School Of Law, Albuquerque, New Mexico (1977).

Education

Honorary Juris Doctorate, Phoenix School of Law, 2012.

Juris Doctorate, University of New Mexico School of Law, 1977.

Bachelors Science, Arizona State University, 1973.

Employment

Arizona Legislative Service

Sources

Birth: 2008 Guide to the 48th Legislature; 2011 Guide to the 50th Legislature 1st Regular Session (Arizona News Service)

Education:  ALIS for the 50th Arizona State Legislature, 1st Regular Session (2011)