The CSKT (Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes) Lake County law enforcement arrangement may receive a one-time payment, according to the Montana Legislature. Although it has changed significantly from its original form, a proposal to have the state provide some financing to support CSKT Lake County’s law enforcement services on the Flathead Indian Reservation is still being considered by the Montana Legislature.
In accordance with federal Public Law 280, Lake County is the only county in Montana where local law enforcement is in charge of felony proceedings involving Native Americans who are on tribal grounds. It’s due of a 1960s-era deal between the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and the state and federal governments. (Image courtesy of ktvh.com)
Joe Read, a lawmaker from Ronan, is the bill’s sponsor, and it was approved by the House on April 3. In accordance with Public Law 280, HB479 suggests that the State of Montana allocate $2.5 million to the Department of Justice every year, starting on July 1, as compensation for Lake County’s law enforcement efforts on the Flathead Indian Reservation.
The Lake County, Montana, participation in a federal legislation that grants the county the power to enforce tribal members who reside on the reservation within county limits has been examined by the Montana Legislature as part of a package of proposals intended at ensuring repayment. (Image courtesy of montanafreepress.org)
PL280, a 1964 agreement with the State of Montana, outlines how law enforcement and other services will be carried out on the CSKT Flathead Reservation.
CSKT Lake County will stop maintaining law enforcement on tribal lands, if state funds is not provided
If the state does not pay the county for its policing, Lake County officials in northwest Montana have threatened to stop providing law enforcement to its portion of the CSKT Flathead Indian Reservation. The CSKT Lake County, Montana, participation in a federal legislation that grants the county the power to enforce tribal members who reside on the reservation within county limits has been examined by the Montana Legislature as part of a package of proposals intended at ensuring repayment.
County authorities have stated that they will quit Public Law 280 without the payment. This would force the CSKT or the state to assume criminal jurisdiction, which Lake County legislators claim would be expensive. Public Law 280 is something that neither the state nor the county wants the county to depart from.
During a House hearing on March 31, Rep. Joe Read, R-Rowan, who is the sponsor of House Bill 479, which would fund the program, stated that it is effective and highly successful but that it comes at a tremendous cost.
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House Bill 479 – CSKT Lake County law enforcement agreement may get a one-time payment
Rep. Joe Read, R-Ronan, was the primary sponsor of House Bill 479, which was heard by the Senate Judiciary Committee. There were three bills on the subject that were introduced during this session, but only this one is still in effect. In its present form, it would offer a one-time payment that is meant to maintain the current system — for the time being. County officials estimate that it costs them over $4 million annually to assist law enforcement on tribal lands, and the mounting costs are overwhelming them. They sued the state last year, requesting compensation for part of those expenses.
The county commission then said that they would leave the agreement and seek the state government to take over law enforcement if Montana didn’t start contributing some funding. The primary budget committee in the House, the House Appropriations Committee, looked at three measures this year that would have provided Lake County with some state assistance. Only HB 479 was advanced, and the funding was reduced to $5 million.
There was some opposition to HB 479 from those who were against the PL-280 arrangement in its entirety. The statute, according to Keegan Medrano, policy director for the ACLU of Montana, is a “dysfunctional unfunded mandate” built on outmoded views of tribes. On Wednesday, HB 479 received no immediate response from the Senate Judiciary Committee.
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