(C) Daily Montanan This story was originally published by Daily Montanan and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Bill to fund law enforcement on CSKT reservation has more teeth in 2023 – Daily Montanan [1] ['Nicole Girten', 'More From Author', '- February'] Date: 2023-02-16 Lake County is again asking the state, through the legislature, to pay what it says is the state’s obligation to oversee criminal jurisdiction on the Flathead Reservation. But Senate Bill 127 sponsor Sen. Greg Hertz, R-Polson, said this time is different. During the 2021 legislative session, after passing legislation outlining the state’s obligation, Gov. Greg Gianforte’s office appropriated $1 towards the bill. Lake County calculates it needs $5 million a year instead. If the state doesn’t agree to pay it, Hertz said this time, Lake County would just withdraw from its 60-year agreement with the state to support law enforcement on the reservation. Lake County estimates this would leave the state on the hook for $100 million to set up an entirely new judicial system, including new courts, jail facilities and staff. “I’m here because I’m concerned about public safety in Lake County,” said Lake County Commissioner Bill Barron during a hearing on the bill on Thursday. “Unfortunately, that’s tied to dollars.” Thursday, the committee advanced the bill on party lines with Republicans in support. In 1963, Montana authorized overseeing criminal jurisdiction in the Flathead Reservation under Public Law 280, which passed a decade prior in Congress. The law allowed for the transfer of criminal jurisdiction to states where reservations are located. The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes has overseen misdemeanor offenses since 1994. But the state is solely responsible for overseeing federal crimes there now, and Lake County said that because the state itself doesn’t have the infrastructure and has not supplied funding, the county was forced to help — and incur costs. Commissioners said they were told decades ago those costs would be insignificant. “And we know that that’s not quite right,” said Barron. So Lake County has been footing the bill to comply with PL 280, and commissioners say they’ve reached a breaking point. The bill appropriates about $5 million a year to cover the costs for Lake County to run the program, money county officials said they’ve been forced to take from other sources. “It’s one of those situations that you rob Peter to pay Paul for so long, the other areas are frozen,” said Lance Jasper, an attorney for Lake County. “It is at a breaking point where the state doesn’t honor its obligation, then the county will have to get out and work with the tribal members.” Last month, the commission voted to withdraw from PL 280, a move Commissioner Gale Decker said the commission did reluctantly, but with their budget in mind. Decker said in the hearing Thursday that public safety is primarily funded through property tax and estimated 30% to 40% of revenue went to PL 280 demands. The county filed a complaint against the state over the issue of jurisdiction during the summer. The lawsuit is still ongoing. In the meantime, the needs of the county are great, according to proponents of the bill. Lake County Attorney James Lapotka told the committee about the overcapacity at the prison, which is being sued for poor living conditions. “We currently have 56 inmates in a facility that we’re really only supposed to have 42,” said Lapotka. He also spoke to the strain staff is under to meet demands in the community, with five attorneys filing 408 felony cases last year. He spoke to drug trafficking from neighboring Washington, and arrests of people with “hundreds of fentanyl pills.” He said attorneys in Missoula help with their caseload but only a small fraction of them. “Only when we’re talking about thousands of pills and weapons being used or five, 10, 20 pounds of methamphetamine, and even then sometimes they decide not to prosecute those cases,” he said. He described PL 280 as the most fair system for the community, and no one involved in the criminal justice system wants to see it go away. But the county can’t shoulder the costs anymore. The Flathead Reservation is the only reservation in Montana under PL 280, with the majority population residing in Lake County. The CSKT had no comment on Hertz’s bill, according to CSKT spokesperson Gwen Lankford. In the legal filing, attorneys for Lake County said they spend $4 million per year to comply with PL 280 and the CSKT spend roughly the same amount to facilitate misdemeanor jurisdiction. Rep. Joe Read, R-Ronan, introduced a few bills in the House to address the jurisdiction discrepancy between Lake County and the state. House Bill 479 serves as a placeholder in case the state doesn’t reimburse the county and would appropriate $75 million funds for DOJ to assume jurisdiction over the Flathead Reservation. In response to a question from Sen. Susan Webber, D-Browning about what a state-run replacement would look like, Read said that he had to guess how much it would cost. The fiscal note for Hertz’s bill said it cannot be estimated at this time, but is “assumed to be significant.” He said in discussing the bill with the Sheriff’s Association that they said he should have requested $100 million. Hertz said he’s been in talks with Lt. Gov. Kristen Juras in the last month and the Governor’s Office is aware of those conversations. In closing on his bill, Hertz said it would be more effective for the state to come to an agreement with the county. “The state would not have to bear the burden, which seems to be almost $100 million. That’s a one-time investment. Then they have an ongoing cost of providing and paying for all the facilities that they might need,” Hertz said. Editor’s note: this story was updated to reflect executive action. 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