County-tribal law enforcement agreement could see changes

A Polson lawmaker is advancing a bill in the Montana Legislature that would obligate the state to cover law enforcement costs for counties prosecuting felony crimes on the Flathead Indian Reservation.

Unique among Montana’s tribal reservations, the partnership between the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and Lake County gives the county jurisdiction over felony crimes committed by tribal members on the reservation. It’s the only such arrangement in the state, originally adopted in 1964 under Public Law 280.

Republican Rep. Greg Hertz presented House Bill 450 before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. The bill would require the state to either assume detention and prosecution costs for crimes committed by tribal members on the reservation, or to begin the process of withdrawing from the current agreement. Withdrawal would place jurisdiction over those crimes in the hands of federal law enforcement agencies, as is the case on Montana’s other federally recognized reservations.

Hertz and other officials from Lake County noted the historic success of the inter-governmental agreement, but said county revenues have failed to keep pace with the enforcement and prosecution costs.

“I don’t think anybody in Lake County, whether its tribal law enforcement or citizens, want this to go away,” Hertz said. “But we just can’t afford it anymore.”

Lake County officials and residents have recently begun proposing to back out of the agreement, citing recent declines in property-tax collections and corresponding hikes in local tax rates. The Lake County Commissioners voted Jan. 11 to pass a resolution of intent to withdraw from the agreement, according to the Lake County Leader.

Testifying in Helena in support of Hertz’s bill Tuesday, commissioner Bill Baron told the committee that the current system is a model of county-tribal law enforcement partnerships. But he also said a declining property tax base has left Lake County with dwindling resources to continue shouldering the responsibility.

“This is by no means any kind of attack against the tribes or the way they do business or anything like that. I’m just talking about the facts we deal with as commissioners,” Barron said. “Right now, other offices are not getting the services they require, because of the money we put into Public Law 280.”

Lake County Attorney Steve Eschenbacher also offered support for the bill, telling lawmakers that property taxes in the county have grown as much as 24 percent in the last two years, due in part to the loss of the former Kerr Dam from the county’s tax rolls.

A fiscal note estimating the cost to the state if the bill is passed has been requested, but was not ready as of the committee hearing. Eschenbacher estimated the annual cost to the state would be $1.85 million.

Hertz asked the committee members to not “let this bill die a death due to a fiscal note,” and said he would be willing to strip the financial obligation from the bill if need be.

No one testified against the measure, although Ryan Rusche, an attorney with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, was present at the hearing as an informational witness.

The committee did not immediately take action on the bill.

A separate measure to address the issue will face its first hearing this morning in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Senate Bill 310, sponsored by Sen. Lea Whitford, D-Cut Bank, would provide the tribes with the option to withdraw from the felony-prosecution agreement.

Reporter Sam Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.