Law & Order Subcommittee

Report for May 2006

Members

• Brooklyn D. Baptiste, Chairman

•  Joel T. Moffett, Vice-Chairman

• John E. Strombeck, Member

• Gary E. Greene, Member

• Julia Davis-Wheeler, Member

• Larry M. Greene, Jr., Member

Meeting Dates

The Law & Order Subcommittee meets every first and third Mondays of the month at 2:00 pm to 4:30 pm.  (Open to Tribal members).

Vision

Improve the policies of the Nez Perce Tribe, so that they meet the needs and expectations of the Nez Perce people.

Goals

To incorporate the Nez Perce Tribe's Strategic Plan, and open communication with the tribal public to continue identifying and addressing all areas in need of improvement.

Description of Services

The Law & Order Subcommittee's mission is to provide the program components a forum for policy review and formulation as well as, general reporting of departmental activities.  The Law & Order Subcommittee meets on the first and third Monday of the month at 2:00pm (open to Tribal members).

Program Components

Office of Legal Counsel, Law Enforcement, Tribal Prosecutor, Judicial Services, and Gaming Commission.

Accomplishments

• The Law & Order Subcommittee has been convening in regular session since the last General Council in September of 2004.  We have heard several reports and adopted many administrative actions via motion by all the Program components.

• OFFICE OF LEGAL COUNSEL.  Managing Attorney, Julie Kane to accept the Snake River Basin Adjudication (SRBA) Settlement Offer.  NPTEC voted 6 to 2 to accept the terms.  OLC provided and assisted NPTEC in conducting a series of Public Meetings for Tribal members to comment on the term sheet.  OLC staff attorneys provided NPTEC with an up to the minute briefing of the developments of the other parties (federal and state government) efforts to support and approve the terms of the settlement.  The SRBA  settlement was approved by the United States Congress, it was signed by President George Bush, then was approved by the Idaho State Legislature and signed by Governor, Dirk Kempthorne.  The Tribe was the last to sign on, approving the settlement.

• The Nez Perce Tribe sued and won a judgment against the Idaho State Tax Commission (Nez Perce Tribe, Coeur d Alene Tribe, Shoshone Bannock Tribal v. Hammond, et al.) declaring unlawful the State's attempt to impose its fuels tax on the reservations.  The Ninth Circuit issues a strong decision in favor of the Tribe.  The United States Supreme Court denied the State's request to review the Ninth Circuit's decision.

• OLC hired 2 new attorneys to replace out going attorneys Rick Eichstaedt and Marley Hochendoner and they are:  Ryan W. Sudbury and Darren L. Williams.  Both commenced working for the Tribe in late February 2005.

• The Election Ordinance was reviewed and posted for written comments.  On 12-14-04 NPTEC adopted the Ordinance but decided to hold it in abeyance.  On 12-28-04 NPTEC finalized the 12-14 adoption.  There were questions by the Resolutions Committee regarding implementation of the Ordinance and on 1-25-05 there was a motion to approve the Election Ordinance as fully adopted and to make the necessary adjustments to implement the Ordinance in 2005 but the motion was defeated.  The Election Ordinance is pending General Council discussion/adoption.

• The Law & Order Subcommittee has been monitoring the Wolf Agreement and the status of the 10 (j) Rule.  OLC is currently talking with the U.S. Forest Service and the Idaho Office of Species Conservation to ensure the Tribe's continued involvement in wolf management.  In January 2005, the Tribe and the State reached closure on a Memorandum of Agreement for wolf management, which the Governor has committed to sign.

• The following are a few Code Amendment Postings for FY 2005:  Addition to Chapter 6-9 Nez Perce Tribal Boxing Commission.  There is a need to have provisions to regulate all professional boxing, sparring, wrestling and other unarmed combat events.  NPTEC authorized posting, comments on 8-27-04.  This amendment is still pending.  There was posted an emergency amendment to Chapter 6, the Fuel Tax at Section 6-6-23.  To reiterate that the Nez Perce Tribe's Fuel Tax is in full force and amend to raise the fuel tax to .25 Date authorized by NPTEC - 3-8-05, Posted for comments 3-11-05 to 4-22-05.  There was posted on 3-8-05 an Emergency Amendment to Chapter 3-1, the Fish & Wildlife Code at 3-1-32, 3-1-49 & 3-1-52.  An agreement is being negotiated with the NOAA to fund fisheries enforcement contingent upon the Tribe having certain enforcement powers.  Posted for Comments 3-11-05 written comments were due on 4-22-05.

• OLC in cooperation with University of Idaho Students conducted a tax preparation workshop at the Seniors Citizens Complex for Tribal members on January 26, 2005.

• LAW ENFORCEMENT.  Police Chief Tom Idol.  Response time continued to be maintained to under 15 minutes average in spite of officer position vacancies and officer injuries and a cut in 638 contract funding.

• A new air conditioning system was purchased and installed in the Tribal Police building to eliminate the air circulation and air stagnation problems that were causing health problems.

• With grant funds, we have purchased towers for wireless communications throughout the reservation, radios for tribal response units, and an emergency power backup generator for tribal critical facilities and tribal police facilities.  These should be operational in the near future.  The new Spillman Records Management system for Tribal police has been installed and training is being conducted for all users.

• The Tribal Police have been authorized to move into the old Niimipu Health Building, and have purchased a new telecom system for the building.  This will provide the necessary space needed for all the law enforcement program components to improve delivery of law enforcement and police services.  Move-in will begin as soon as the telecom cables and other maintenance activities are completed.

• On March 11, 2005, for new Tribal Police Officers graduated from the Idaho Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Basic Police Academy and are now beginning the Field Training Officer Program (FTO) training.  Upon successful completion in six weeks, the officers will be able to work on their own to provide service to the reservation community.

• On March 23, 2005, the Tribal Police conducted a two-hour Active Shooter Response training session for all school teachers and staff.  The Nez Perce County Sheriff Jim Dorian participated and provided some excellent recommendations to improve school safety during an active shooter incident.  Our tribal officers demonstrated equipment and weapons that would be employed at such an incident.

• Crime Statistics:  The Tribal Police-BIA 2004 Annual Law Enforcement Program Report was submitted to the BIA in February 2005.

• Tribal Police, Tribal Prosecutor, Tribal Court, and local FBI cooperatively combined their efforts in 2004 to significantly reduce Part  one crimes by 9% and other than Part one crimes by 27% with an overall clearance rate of 93%.  This brings the total reduction in crime since the 2000 to 54%.

• TRIBAL PROSECUTORS OFFICE.  Prosecutor William Richardson.  The following is a brief summary of what the Prosecutor's Office has accomplished within the last year:  Juvenile probation continues to be a prime focus for this office, with Lee Whiteplume expanding the number of site visits with juveniles, developing a better tracking system and developing a coordinated approach to community services.  We have developed a contractual relationship with Martin Hall which provides us a placement of young offenders that offers for more services than traditional Juvenile Detention.  This year 10 youth will be transported to a youth conference in Boise, Idaho.  This office has joined with Law Enforcement in implementing a better tracking system for adult offenders.

• JUDICIAL SERVICES.  Honorable Judge Eva White.  The Nez Perce Tribal Court has received a Tribal Court Enhancement grant which will allow for the addition of a full-time Court Administrator, and a part time Associate Judge, as well as a case management system.  These positions should be added soon.  The Court has also been selected to participate in a Tribal Drug Court Planning Initiative sponsored by the Bureau of Justice Assistance.  The first training session under this initiative was  the end of April 2005.  Ms. Rebecca Miles has been appointed the NPTEC representative to work with the Tribal Prosecutor and the Chief Judge for this initiative.

• GAMING COMMISSION (NPTGC) - President, Melvin Wheeler Sr.  The Nez Perce Tribal Gaming Commission is continuing to review the Internal Controls for the Gaming Operations and have approved Title 31 and Suspicious Activity Reporting for Casinos (SARC) has been revised to comply with federal law.  An Administrative Inquiry and Variance Reporting Notice of Violation Procedures and Appeals were approved by NPTEC and are being implemented.  The NPTGC continues to review and approve, deny or revoke Gaming License applications by potential/current employees for the Gaming Operations.  The NPTGC has worked with the operations on the purchase and installation of 40 new games as the Clearwater River Casino and 20 new games at It'se Ye-ye Bingo and Casino.  The Annual Audit and Internal Audit for FY 04 have been awarded and were submitted within the allowed time frame.

• Vice President, Ferris Paisano III.  The Commission worked diligently with former president Tonia Garcia and current president Melvin Wheeler Sr. on the On-Line variance request to NIGC with operations compliance officer Cheryl Jacobs and the Commission Staff.  We also worked with the Head Technician, Jason Halstead on the installation of twenty Aristocrat and forty Atronics gaming machines.  The Game EPROMS and machines were checked and confirmed using a Dataman for GLI approval based on NPT's Gaming Machine Standards.  Ten percent of the gaming machine EPROMS at CRC and IBC were tested and were in compliance with Tribal Internal Controls as requested by the Auditors.  The Commission reviewed one hundred, eight-six background files for gaming license suitability and an additional eight background files were found to be unsuitable.  The Commission also worked 357 different times with Machine Technicians, Security and Management, overseeing access to motherboards, configuration settings and EPROMS.  The Commission Staff helped in clean up day activities and also helped to Spring forward the changing of the machines to daylight savings time.  KALO.

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