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Figuring out law enforcement on the Flathead Reservation may take years – Daily Montanan [1]

['Darrell Ehrlick', 'More From Author', '- June']

Date: 2023-06-09  

As the 2023 Montana Legislature came to a conclusion, lawmakers, Lake County leaders and Flathead Indian Reservation tribal leaders thought they had arrived at a temporary solution to figure out law enforcement on the reservation in the northern part of the state.

However, an unexpected veto by Gov. Greg Gianforte which nixed the solution sent Lake County back to court, suing the state for what it claims is an unfunded, illegal mandate.

On Friday, Lake County District Court Judge Amy Eddy set a calendar for the case which may extend to the next Legislature to decide, while leaving Lake County with an uncomfortable and expensive solution.

At a court hearing Friday, Eddy and attorneys for the state and county outlined a schedule that could lead to a trial right before Christmas, which would give both sides a chance to appeal. That appeals process that could reasonably conclude before the 2025 Legislature. And neither the county nor state seemed to quibble with the assumption that regardless of the outcome, the topic of law enforcement and the tribal nation would likely make its way to the state’s highest court.

Meanwhile, Lake County said that despite the governor’s veto, which scotched $5 million in funding, that it would continue to provide law enforcement on the Flathead reservation for the public safety of the county and its residents, which includes most of the reservation. In court documents, the county charges that the State of Montana is ultimately responsible for funding law enforcement funding, but in a previous court ruling, Eddy said that the state’s statute of limitations can only extend back for three years of funding.

Montana’s other tribal nations have different combinations of law enforcement, including local tribal police, police officers from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and FBI agents. But on the Flathead reservation, Lake County provides law enforcement through Public Law 280, a federal law that said states could assume law enforcement on the reservation with the cooperation of local enforcement and tribes.

PL-280 went into effect in 1965 on the Flathead reservation and went unchallenged until 2017, when Lake County said the administrative burden related to law enforcement on the reservation was consuming too much of the county budget, with funds being diverted. This kicked off a protracted conversation between the the state and the county, eventually ending with an impasse and the county giving notice to the state that it would leave the agreement, forcing the state to come up with its own law enforcement agency, something state law enforcement officers do not provide. Estimates pegged the cost of developing a law enforcement presence on the Flathead reservation at possibly as much as $75 million.

After Gianforte’s veto, Lake County Commissioners contemplated whether to back out of law enforcement, saying the funds needed for law enforcement were taking away from things like senior citizens. But it relented and said it would continue to fund law enforcement during the course of the court case.

Eddy set a calendar that would place the three-day trial from Dec. 18 through 21, but both sides agreed that a trial date may be possible sooner. Eddy asked the parties if they believed there were disputed facts that needed to be established or tried, but want to cling to a tight timing schedule so that the 2025 Legislature could address the eventual court outcome if it needed.

However, Eddy also pointed out that much of the information, including the original intent and understanding of the leaders who forged the agreement among the tribes, state and the county, were likely no longer living.

“I am guessing these will be historical documents,” Eddy said. “And I know from my experience in asbestos courts that there are a not a lot of people to speak for that period of time.”

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[1] Url: https://dailymontanan.com/2023/06/09/figuring-out-law-enforcement-on-the-flathead-reservation-may-take-years/

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