The in basket: Kyle Neilsen asks “What type of jurisdiction does
the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribal Police have over non-natives who
are stopped for exceeding the speed limit? This hasn’t happened to
me, but I have seen it often the past few weeks and was
curious.”
While seeking information about Kyle’s concern, I asked about
one tribe’s jurisdiction over members of another tribe, and whether
Kitsap County cross-commissions tribal officers to give them all
the powers of its own deputies.
The out basket: Karl Gilje, director of public safety for the
S’Klallam tribe, tells me his officers (the tribe has six) will
ticket non-Indians for traffic infractions on the reservation. “We
have a responsibility to public safety” to make those stops, he
said.
What happens then gets complicated. The ticket must be
handled as a civil infraction, rather than a criminal one, and is
not reported to state licensing agencies as a ticket issued by a
county, city or state officer would be.
The tribe could send the fine to a collections agency if the
cited driver ignores it, but the tribe hasn’t done that in the
past, Karl says.
If the offense is bad enough, the tribe can write it up and
submit it to the county prosecutor, asking that office to take it
to county court. But anything less than drunken or reckless driving
isn’t likely to get that attention and non-tribal officers probably
would have gotten involved already.
So while ducking a speeding fine may be doable for non-Indians
and it won’t affect their driving record, speeding can get you
pulled over and stopped on the shoulder for 15-20 minutes while the
officer checks you for warrants and writes the ticket. That’s
probably a significant punishment for those who feel a need to
speed.
I also asked Deputy Scott Wilson, spokesman for the Kitsap
County Sheriff’s Office, and Chief Mike Lasnier of the Suquamish
tribe about this.
Scott relayed a lengthy decision he said was made by Deputy
Prosecutor Jeff Jahns shortly before he was named district court
judge this year, that drew from a state ruling covering tribal
jurisdiction over non-Indians.
Jeff’s answer said “tribal officers may stop and detain
anyone
driving on a public road within a reservation to investigate
possible violations of tribal criminal and/or civil law. Upon
determining that the driver is non-tribal, the tribal officer may
conduct sobriety tests in a DUI context (if there is
reasonable suspicion that the driver is impaired) to determine
whether to continue to detain the non-tribal driver for the county
sheriff’s office or Washington State Patrol to respond.
“With regard to the Port Gamble – S’Klallam /
Port Madison – Suquamish (reservations)” Scott said, “I
believe that tribal law enforcement
officers of either agency have authority over any Native
American registered tribal member who is within their jurisdiction.
I base this
on my 10 years working the road primarily in North Kitsap and
interacting with the two tribal agencies.”
But I’d better check with the tribes, he added.
The 2008 Legislature enacted RCW 10.92.020, which permits
cross-commissioning of tribal officers, but requires that the tribe
and local government, in this case Kitsap County and its sheriff’s
department, sign what’s called an interlocal agreement extending
that authority.
Scott said the new law is under consideration at the county
level, and “as of this date, tribal officers in Kitsap County have
not been authorized to act as general authority Washington peace
officers.”
Chief Mike Lasnier said, “the Suquamish Tribal Police are
seeking that authority. Our officers are already certified by
the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission, and we
are currently working with the State Office of Financial
Management, and the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Department and Kitsap
County Prosecutors Office, in order to ensure that use of state
authority by Suquamish officers makes good public safety
sense.
As for members of other tribes, he said his department,
“enforces public safety laws on the reservation on behalf of the
safety of all residents. Jurisdiction is a complex and
evolving field in federal Indian law, and there are few black and
white issues or answers. Overall, Scott did a pretty good job
of trying to sum it up.”
Karl Gilje says his officers are registered with the state
training commission in anticipation of one day being
cross-commissioned.