Native Sun News Today: County looks at fugitives in Indian Country

Tuesday, July 17, 2018

County works with tribes to return fugitives

By Richie Richards
Native Sun News Today Correspondent
nativesunnews.today

RAPID CITY – During the 2nd Session of the 115th Congress, Representative Kristi Noem introduced a bill to amend Title 18 of the United States Code.

This amendment would penalize the unlawful flight to avoid prosecution into and from Indian Country, which brings up a very sensitive subject in South Dakota. Tribal leaders defend their sovereign rights while victims and families of victims continue to seek justice as the perpetrators wonder freely on the streets of nine reservations in South Dakota.

The Act known as the “No Haven for Dangerous Fugitives Act of 2018” amends Section 1073 of the title 18 of the United States Code by adding the phrase “or is present within the special foreign maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States, or enters or leaves Indian country” onto the “Whoever moves or travels in the interstate or foreign commerce.”

The bill introduced by Representative Noem’s office ends, “It is the sense of Congress that Federal, State, and local governments should respect Tribal sovereignty at all times, including engaging in all reasonable efforts to reach extradition agreements with Indian Tribes.”

In a memo provided by Pennington County Sheriff, Kevin Thom to Native Sun News Today dated February 12, 2018, sent to Sheriff Thom from Sergeant Battest regarding “Fugitives Currently On Reservations” provided information about fugitives the county believed were on reservations in South Dakota on the date the memo was issued.

According to the February 12, 2018 memo, Pennington County had at the time 712 active felony warrants. Of those 712 warrants, the county believed there were 136 of those living or hiding on a reservation in South Dakota. Due to the fact that many of those 136 fugitives had multiple felony warrants, the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office believed there were 157 total active felony warrants residing on a reservation in South Dakota.

The county believes 22 percent of the active felony warrants are residing on reservations; with a majority of those one the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. This might be in part due to the close proximity of the reservation to Rapid City and the high numbers of Oglala Lakota tribal members living off reservations in the Black Hills town.

This memo provided a breakdown of which reservation the PCSO believes fugitives were hiding at the time this memo was issued:

• Pine Ridge – 93 fugitives with 112 warrants.
• Rosebud – 20 fugitives with 22 warrants.
• Cheyenne River – 14 fugitives with 15 warrants.
• Lower Brule – 3 fugitives with 3 warrants

Included in this breakdown were the types of crimes these felonies represent:

• 118 felony warrants are drug and alcohol related offenses.
• 9 felony warrants are crimes of violence, which includes manslaughter, one attempted murder, and the remaining are some type of felony assault.
• 7 felony warrants are sex crimes, including rape.
• 12 felony warrants are for escapes. The escapees original charges range from aggravated assault to vehicular homicide.
• 16 felony warrants are property related crimes including crimes like grand theft and intentional damage to property.

According to the February 2018 memorandum, the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office receives many calls over the course of the week from callers who have information regarding the fugitives on the reservations. Often, these calls are from families of victims or the victims themselves who would like for their perpetrator to be arrested and brought to justice.

The memo reads, “The caller becomes very frustrated when we have to explain we are unable to act on the information they provide because we have no way to arrest the fugitive while he/she is on the reservation.”