Franklin D. Roosevelt

Executive Order 8616—Placing Palmyra Island, Territory of Hawaii, Under the Control and Jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Navy

December 19, 1940

By virtue of the authority vested in me by section 91 of the act of April 30, 1900, 31 Stat. 141, 159, as amended by section 7 of the act of May 27, 1910, 36 Stat. 443, 447, and as President of the United States, it is ordered that Palmyra Island, consisting of a group of islets surrounded by a coral reef located in the Pacific Ocean approximately at Latitude 5°52'18'' North and Longitude 162°05'55'' West, as indicated by diagram hereto attached and made a part hereof, be and it is hereby, subject to valid existing rights, if any, placed under the control and jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Navy and reserved for naval purposes: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall affect the civil or criminal jurisdiction of the Territory of Hawaii with respect to persons or property on Palmyra Island, in so far as such jurisdiction is consistent with the purposes for which said island is hereby reserved.

Signature of Franklin D. Roosevelt
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT

The White House,
December 19, 1940.

Franklin D. Roosevelt, Executive Order 8616—Placing Palmyra Island, Territory of Hawaii, Under the Control and Jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Navy Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/371975

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