Lake County is still suffering under Public Law 280, requiring the county to handle enforcement of serious crime on the Flathead Reservation. Most of Lake County is on the Reservation. At an annual cost of $4-million, the County says it can no longer handle the costs of arresting, trying and jailing errant Tribal members.
None of this was a problem, until the Tribe took over the Selis Ksanka Qlispe Dam, the former Kerr Dam. The revenue from that is now lost to Lake County…and it won’t return. House Bill 479 was passed by the last Legislature, but Gov. Greg Gianforte vetoed it, leaving the county with the tab. The County took the State to Court, but lost. Gov. Gianforte offered to pay up to $2.5-million a year to keep the county in compliance with Public Law 280.
What hasn’t happened is any compensation from the State, leaving Lake County trying to figure out how to balance their budget. This year, they billed the state just short of $1-million. No reply.
According to UCLA Law Processor Carole Goldberg–the preeminent authority on the subject, Public Law 280 was created at a time when Congress was looking to dissolve the century-old Reservation System, bringing tribal members into the same systems as the rest of us. Thing is, just the opposite has happened. The Reservations have become even more independent, but the costs associated with the law have risen to the point where Lake County can no longer cover them.
In the next Session, Sen. Greg Hertz, of Polson, has promised to carry a bill requiring the State to ante up.
