The full 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has agreed to hear a case involving 31 acres of Narragansett Indian land in Charlestown.

A three-judge panel from the appeals court ruled in September 2005 that the land could be taken into federal trust on behalf of the tribe, freeing it largely from state and local jurisdiction. Some fear it could also open the door for the tribe to build a casino on the property, though a housing project is already in the works.

The state requested a hearing before the full court. In vacating the September decision, the justices announced Tuesday that a review was set for Jan. 9 at 2 p.m at the John Joseph Moakley Courthouse in Boston.

Both sides say they are ready to go. They have 21 days to file briefs.

“The tribe is anxious to proceed and complete the housing project,” said Jack Killoy, a lawyer for the tribe, whose case will be argued by the U.S. Department of Justice.

“We’ve been ready to argue this case for many, many months. … We’re just glad the whole court will hear the arguments,” said Joseph S. Larisa Jr., Charlestown’s solicitor.

The tribe bought the 31 acres in 1991 to build housing for its poor elderly members. That project stalled when the tribe began construction without securing state and local building permits.

The U.S. Department of Interior, through its Bureau of Indian Affairs, agreed to place the land in trust for the tribe in 1998. Trust status clears the property from most state and local civil and criminal jurisdiction, placing it under tribal and federal authority.

The state and the Town of Charlestown filed suit against the Department of Interior in federal court. They argued that the 31 acres should be bound by the same laws as the tribe’s other 1,800 acres, where state civil and criminal jurisdiction apply under the 1978 settlement that gave the tribe its lands.

Further, Sen. John H. Chafee introduced a provision into a federal law in 1996 that said that, for the purposes of the federal Indian gaming act, the 1,800 acres "shall not be treated as Indian lands."

U.S. District Judge Mary Lisi ruled in September 2003 that the Interior Department could place the 31 acres in trust for the tribe. The state appealed. A three-judge panel from the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that decision, but did not address the jurisdiction issue.

A panel decided last September that the land could be held in unrestricted trust for the tribe.

It’s that prospect that concerns Larisa. Like Governor Carcieri’s office, he is wary of allowing a precedent that frees land from the strictures of state and local laws.

The ruling threatens to rip from state jurisdiction any land that is owned by the tribe, he says. Larisa fears the Narragansetts would build a 12-story building or other behemoth, because local zoning would not apply.

The Narragansetts own more than 347 acres in Westerly and 63 in Charlestown, in addition to the tribe’s 1,800 acres, tax assessors’ records show.

“Obviously, the full First Circuit Court recognized the importance of the issue. Attorney General [Patrick] Lynch thinks it’s important to know whether or not the federal government can remove the state’s jurisdiction by taking the land into trust here in Rhode Island,” said Michael Healey, spokesman for Lynch.

But the tribe contends decades of precedent precede the case.

“For the sake of the tribe, precedents have been set time and time again for land to be taken into trust for the benefit of tribes. We don’t see why it would be different in this issue,” Randy Noka, first councilman for the tribe, said yesterday.

Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas, who could not be reached for comment, has said the land would be used for housing. Following the panel’s ruling, however, he retreated from that stance, saying the tribe intended to use the trust land solely to benefit its members.