{"id":60856,"date":"2024-12-05T10:19:51","date_gmt":"2024-12-05T15:19:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=60856"},"modified":"2024-12-05T10:23:49","modified_gmt":"2024-12-05T15:23:49","slug":"daily-montanan-county-loses-ruling-in-reservation-law-enforcement-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2024\/12\/05\/daily-montanan-county-loses-ruling-in-reservation-law-enforcement-fight\/","title":{"rendered":"Daily Montanan: County loses ruling in reservation law enforcement fight"},"content":{"rendered":"\"Flathead<\/a>
A sign on the Flathead Reservation, home to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, in Montana. Photo: Nicholas Brown<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n
State Supreme Court upholds ruling on Flathead Reservation criminal jurisdiction<\/div>\r\n
Supreme Court upheld dismissal of Lake County case requesting state reimburse for federal law enforcement efforts<\/div>\r\n
Thursday, December 5, 2024<\/div>\r\n
By Micah Drew, Daily Montanan<\/a> <\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\n

The Montana Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a district court ruling against Lake County, which had argued the State of Montana should reimburse the local government for federal criminal oversight on the Flathead Reservation.\u00a0<\/p>

Writing for the majority, Supreme Court Justice Beth Baker concluded that it remains the Montana Legislature\u2019s \u201cdiscretion to determine whether and how much to fund the county\u2019s P.L. 280 costs,\u201d affirming the District Court Judge Amy Eddy\u2019s 2023 ruling to dismiss the case<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t a huge surprise to me. We knew it was going to be uphill going in, but we knew it was a step we needed to take in our process to get funding,\u201d Lake County Commissioner Bill Barron told the Daily Montanan.\u00a0<\/p>\r\nLake County v. Montana<\/a>\r\n

Lake County v. State of Montana, No. DA 23-0689<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/p>\r\n

This decision [PDF<\/a>] is the latest piece of a years-long fight between the county and the state over Public Law 280, which Congress enacted in 1953 to allow the transfer of federal criminal and civil jurisdictions over Native American reservations to six states.<\/p>

Montana took over criminal jurisdiction in the Flathead Reservation in 1963 and is responsible for overseeing felony crimes there now, while the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, or CSKT, has overseen misdemeanor crimes since 1994. However, it is the county that carries out the actual enforcement.\u00a0<\/p>

Lake County officials have said the financial burden of this system reached a \u201cbreaking point\u201d<\/a>, costing county taxpayers roughly $4 million a year, and in 2017 signed the first of several resolutions to withdraw from the PL-280 agreement. Since then there has been a barrage of discussions, legislative acts and legal actions regarding who should foot the bill.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Court\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t
\n\t\t\n\t\t\tCourt sides with state over criminal jurisdiction on the Flathead Reservation \u2022 Daily Montanan\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
\n\t\t\n\t\t\t

A district court judge sided with the State of Montana after Lake County argued the state should be financially responsible for federal criminal oversight on the Flathead Reservation.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

\n\t\t\"Daily\t\tDaily Montanan\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\r\n

The CSKT are not party to the lawsuit, but the tribes have previously said<\/a> they are \u201coffering technical, legal, and personnel resources as the Tribes work with state and federal partners to determine a solid path forward.\u201d Tribal Council Chairman Michael Dolson said in a statement earlier this year that the tribes are focused on public safety \u201cregardless of the status of PL-280.\u201d<\/p>

The county has sought legislative funding solutions, saying that withdrawing from the agreement would force the state to spend around $100 million to recreate the criminal justice system on the reservation.\u00a0<\/p>

The 2021 Legislature passed an annual appropriation of $1 towards Lake County for Public Law 280 services, which Eddy described as \u201cpatently absurd,\u201d while in 2023 the legislature passed House Bill 479, which would have allocated $5 million over two years to Lake County. Gov. Greg Gianforte vetoed that bill, though he praised the county\u2019s enforcement effort as a \u201cmodel of success\u201d\u00a0 in his veto letter. The measure failed to garner enough support<\/a>\u00a0to override the veto.<\/p>\r\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\"State\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t
\n\t\t\n\t\t\tState won\u2019t step in after Lake County withdraws criminal jurisdiction over Flathead Reservation \u2022 Daily Montanan\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
\n\t\t\n\t\t\t

The question of what government entity will oversee felony criminal jurisdiction on the Flathead Indian Reservation is still to be seen, but it\u2019s looking like it won\u2019t be the state of Montana. And Lake County Commissioners are not pleased.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

\n\t\t\"Daily\t\tDaily Montanan\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\r\n

In 2022, Lake County filed the complaint against the State of Montana, alleging an \u201cunfunded mandate\u201d and \u201cunjust enrichment.\u201d The county sought damages for past and present costs, restitution, and a declaration that the state must reimburse all future costs related to PL-280.\u00a0<\/p>

In November of last year, Judge Eddy ruled in favor of the state and dismissed the case, stating that \u201cLake County\u2019s proper remedy was to withdraw its consent to P.L. 280.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cIt is unfortunate that, during a legislative session noteworthy for its unprecedented budget surplus, the parties were unable to reach an agreement to provide for the ongoing safety and security of the Flathead Indian reservation and Lake County,\u201d the district court order read.\u00a0<\/p>

Lake County officials voted to leave the agreement following Eddy\u2019s ruling, and requested Gianforte release the county from the agreement. However, the governor\u2019s office in May said the county\u2019s paperwork was invalid.<\/a><\/p>

Lake County has continued to provide felony enforcement on the Flathead Reservation, though they have done so \u201cunder protest,\u201d Commissioner Gale Decker told the Daily Montanan earlier this year.\u00a0<\/p>

And, the county has been tallying up the bill ever since and sending monthly invoices to the state.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Lake\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t
\n\t\t\n\t\t\tLake County planning to withdraw law enforcement from Flathead Reservation \u2022 Daily Montanan\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
\n\t\t\n\t\t\t

Lake County Commissioners announced Friday they intend to initiate the process of withdrawing from a nearly 60 year-old agreement with the state over criminal jurisdiction over the Flathead Reservation.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

\n\t\t\"Daily\t\tDaily Montanan\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\r\n

During a county commission meeting on November 19, Decker said the cost through October was $967,577.22, but the invoices had not yet prompted a response from the state. The total bill includes just hard costs, according to Decker, excepting additional costs such as vehicle depreciation, renovations to the detention center and others that would require \u201csome deep digging to validate.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cI understand where the governor is. I don\u2019t agree with him, but I understand where he doesn\u2019t want to put a line item into the budget year after year to provide funding to Lake County for Public Law 280,\u201d Decker said. \u201cBut there is no way that, in my opinion, Lake County and CSKT can come up with a way of funding it.\u201d<\/p>

State Sen. Greg Hertz, R-Polson, told the commission that he has requested a draft bill for the 2025 legislative session seeking state funding, and that he\u2019d had conversations with Lt. Gov. Kristen Juras in which she seemed receptive to the idea.\u00a0<\/p>

Speaking on Wednesday, Commissioner Barron said the county commission would be meeting with its lawyers this week to go over options, which could include filing an additional lawsuit, or trying yet again for a legislative solution.\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cDo we go that route again and let it get vetoed again? Do we do a lawsuit and ask a judge to award it?\u201d Barron said. \u201cWe\u2019ve started this process and it hasn\u2019t gone the way we\u2019d hoped. We thought we\u2019d been kind of misled and kind of stuck in the back of the process, but we\u2019re in it, and I do think there is a solution down the road. And I\u2019m ready to take it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>