“Well, it’s the end of a long journey,” said Lake County Commissioner Gale Decker about newly minted legislation regarding Public Law 280, a law enforcement agreement between Lake County and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

With little fanfare, Senate Bill 393 became law last week. The legislation, carried by Polson Sen. Greg Hertz, signals a major breakthrough in the funding and future cooperation surrounding law enforcement on the Flathead Reservation.  

“The funding from this bill will energize our efforts to expand the capacity of our court system and will go a long way in providing a strong and fair justice system,” said Tribal Council Chair Michael Dolson. “CSKT is ready to expand and improve our system to ensure a safe and secure homeland for our people and community.”

Lake County Attorney James Lapotka said the legislation “has taken a long time and several meetings in Helena with the tribes and governor’s team.” Decker noted that Lt. Gov. Kristen Juras was a participant in the discussions and twice met with legislators, tribal leaders and county officials in Helena.

The outcome is a brief bill that allocates $6 million to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and Lake County over the next biennium “for expenditures resulting from the enforcement of felony criminal jurisdiction on the Flathead Indian Reservation.”

The first installment of $250,000 to each government will be dispersed after the county commissioners rescind a resolution to withdraw from Public Law 280 that was adopted in 2023, and agree not to make a similar move again until 2027 or 2028, depending on whether the agreement is extended or replaced.

The remaining $5 million “must be distributed in equal amounts” after a memorandum of understanding is reached between the state, county and tribes regarding the sharing of law enforcement costs related to felony jurisdiction over tribal members.

The first half of the $5 million will be released in fiscal year 2025, which begins July 1, and the second half for fiscal year 2026, “subject to … substantial compliance by all parties with the terms of the agreement.”

Decker said Monday he expects the commissioners to take up the matter of rescinding the resolution as early as next week.

The next step, according to Lapotka, is working on a memorandum of understanding with the tribes and the state that will outline future changes.

“I look forward to having those conversations and hammering out a framework going forward that will work for everyone and ensure sustainable public safety here in Lake County,” he said.

In a statement released Monday, Gov. Greg Gianforte described Senate Bill 393 as “a step in the right direction to finding a long-term resolution.”

Historically, the governor has described the PL 280 agreement – the only one in place in Montana – as “a model” for law enforcement on Indian reservations, but denied that the state had any responsibility to help foot the bill.

The law enforcement agreement was initially forged in the 1960s, with buy-in from the tribes, Lake County and the state. In 1993, the Montana Legislature enacted Senate Bill 368, which allowed the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes to assume criminal jurisdiction over misdemeanors involving tribal members.

Since then, according to Confederate Salish and Kootenai Tribes Communications Director Rob McDonald, the tribal court system and law enforcement embarked on “a much more active effort of handling mostly non-felony cases.”

Those efforts have ramped up in recent years, especially as the county sought to withdraw from the agreement, citing the ever-increasing costs of incarcerating prisoners and investigating felony crimes.

McDonald notes that the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes “has been exploring the idea of an expanded court for years,” and hopes Senate Bill 393 “provides good leverage” for unearthing federal funding that could help enhance court capacity.

In the past 18 months, McDonald says the court has handled more than 150 felonies, primarily drug-related.

He adds, “Our court system has been working hard to accept the challenge of taking on more felony cases – those that properly align with our ability to match a punishment with the crime.”

That’s historically been a challenge since the Indian Civil Rights Act limited the ability of tribal courts to punish prisoners beyond 12 months in jail, which was insufficient for more serious crimes. The Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010 has strengthened tribal law enforcement and criminal justice systems across Indian Country, said McDonald.

Still, according to Lapotka, jurisdiction for the most serious felonies will remain with the state. Those include homicides, rapes, burglaries and other serious violent offenses.

This marks the fourth legislative session in which the county has sought to eke funding from the Legislature for Public Law 280, claiming that the state, as a signatory to the original agreement, also had a responsibility to help pay for the additional expenses rather than burdening local taxpayers.

In 2021, the Legislature finally agreed that the county either needed help or should be allowed to withdraw from PL 280. Legislators actually allocated money during the 2023 session to help the county, state and tribes reach an agreement on how move forward, but that bill was vetoed by the governor.

Senate Bill 393 marks the first legislation signed by the governor with funding attached.

“This is a solution supported by Lake County, CSKT, the governor’s office, a bipartisan group of state legislators, and the Indian Caucus,” said McDonald. “The support shown on the second reading was impressive, 98-2.”

He also pointed out that tribal leadership understands that Lake County is a tourism magnet, and that quality of life “is an issue that’s been considered” in finding a solution.

As for the commissioners, the legislation represents a breakthrough after years of lobbying efforts, as well as a court case that ultimately went to the Montana Supreme Court.

“Our goal from the beginning has been to reduce our PL 280 enforcement costs and we are hopeful this will happen in the next two years,” Decker said. “We believe this will be a cost savings to the county in the future and that has been our objective from the start of this process.”