by Travis Mateer
The Attorney General of Montana, Austin Knudsen, has a quiet crisis on his hands, especially in Western Montana. The crisis is confidence in the ability of the criminal justice system to actually function, and it’s gotten so bad in places like Mineral County, not even a writ of mandamus can get the Sheriff to give a shit. I wonder what this guy’s office is going to do about it?
Here’s NBC Montana reporting on the Mineral County Sheriff’s Office inability to comply with the court’s expectations:
“I now hear that the sheriff is in the hospital; however, essentially, my take on it was that he sent an email saying bye to the county and has up and left, leaving the undersheriff kind of in a difficult spot,” plaintiffs’ attorney Lance Jasper said.
With a new sheriff not taking over until January, that office is still not in compliance.
That new Sheriff is Ryan Funke, a Sheriff Deputy who came to Mineral County via Lake County, where things are also not good. How not good? Getting the hell out of Public Law 280 not good. From the link:
Lake County commissioners say they have initiated removal from an agreement with the state of Montana in regard to felony crimes committed on the Flathead Indian Reservation.
The agreement called “Public Law 280” is a federal law under which the state and Lake County agreed in 1963 that the county will investigate and prosecute felony cases against Native Americans on the Flathead Indian Reservation.
The rationale for why this is needing to happen is that Lake County is overwhelmed and underfunded, and the Governor’s Office is refusing to help. Here’s the press release from the Lake County Commissioners:
“Lake County is at a breaking point. As we prepare the 2023/2024 fiscal year budget, we believe our taxpayers are doing all they can to support our communities and the many visitors who pass through the County. We provide law enforcement, road infrastructure, access to healthcare, waste management and other vital services. We are facing a growing population, deferred maintenance of roads and bridges, inadequate county buildings, outdated incarceration facilities and a troubling increase in drug-related crime. Lake County and its taxpayers are on the verge of being overwhelmed.”
“We have great confidence in our sheriff and his deputies, and the tribal officers, district judges, prosecutors and staff members who conduct themselves professionally as dedicated public servants. Yet, they are being overwhelmed by the volume of work, inadequate facilities and crumbling infrastructure. Lake County and its taxpayers are facing a financial crisis resulting from the need to adequately fund Public Law 280 law enforcement services.”
“Earlier this year, the Lake County Commissioners made it clear that they hoped to avoid litigation or pull out of the Public Law 280 agreement and attempted to work with the Governor’s office for a positive long-term solution before the end of 2022. Yet, despite significant efforts and well-informed suggestions of the Lake County Commissioners regarding how the State of Montana could act, the State of Montana has remained silent and has refused to address the Commissioners’ concerns.”
“We are not going to tolerate this any longer and are initiating the process to withdraw Lake County out of the Public Law 280 agreement with the State of Montana. The most immediate way to fix this crisis is to fix what is causing it. The State of Montana obligated and bound itself to assume criminal jurisdiction under Public Law 280. Yet, it has effectively shifted the cost of this obligation to the County’s taxpayers. It is time for the State of Montana to reimburse Lake County for the last eight years to fulfill the State’s obligation under Public Law 280. Going forward, the State must continue to pay more than the $4 million a year it is costing Lake County taxpayers to fulfill the State’s obligation under Public Law 280.”
“If the State were paying its obligation, Lake County tax dollars could be used to update the infrastructure of Lake County. As is, Lake County has become what criminals consider a “catch and release county.” More than 80 felony warrants per month do not result in incarceration, but instead result in a ticket and the offender being released on the same day. This is exceptionally dangerous, as criminals charged with illegal drug trafficking and other violent crimes are being set free because the Lake County jail is overwhelmed.”
“The safety and security of our children, families, businesses, and visitors must be protected. We must solve this problem now. It is time that the State stop kicking the can down the road and fulfill its obligation. Our tax dollars must be available to support our schools, infrastructure, and services, rather than be used to fulfill an obligation that expressly belongs to the State itself.”
“To be clear, we believe the local control and the ability to collaborate with tribal leaders and law enforcement officials afforded by Public Law 280, works very well. We do not want to take the extreme step of pulling away from Public Law 280, leaving it to the State of Montana to attempt to take over from afar. It is likely that Montana State taxpayers will have to spend more than $100 million in start-up costs, which would not even provide the services that Lake County residents deserve. By providing this notice now, Lake County has begun the six-month process during which the State of Montana must start to buy, build or rent the buildings and vehicles necessary to support a newly hired law enforcement, administrative and leadership force, as well as the personnel and detention facility necessary to fully prosecute felonies on the Flathead Reservation and to fulfill the obligations of Public Law 280. This notice is taking place before the 2023 Montana State Legislature convenes, allowing the State of Montana to appropriate the funds necessary to achieve this task.”
A cynic might assume this is just posturing for the upcoming legislative session where the juicy billion dollar surplus is going to be carved up. Or is that two billion?
While I’m sure that’s part of it, I think the other part is things really are that fucked, and the legislators are going to need to act like adults and do some serious work to address a criminal justice system that literally can’t function.
Here in Missoula County our outgoing Sheriff made some loud noises (if you were listening like I was) about jail capacity and how every other institution is to blame for Missoula’s street-anarchy problems, which spill over sometimes to them fancy tourists not feeling super excited about navigating machete meth battles.
Will our new Sheriff hold to the 400 inmate limit? And how about the cheapskates at the State who have been shorting Missoula County for years? How is that lawsuit going? From the link (2021):
Last April, Missoula County filed a lawsuit against the Department of Corrections claiming it had breached its contract by not covering the full cost of housing state inmates at the local detention center.
The county’s complaint also included an unjust enrichment claim against DOC, along with breach of good faith and fair dealing.
“Missoula County attempted to resolve the situation in which the Department of Corrections is underpaying us for the inmates we house, both on the pre-trial side as well as the correctional facility we have with DOC,” Conley said. “We’re the only county I’m aware of that has filed suit on these particular actions. But there are other counties that are negatively impacted.”
So, what is this guy going to do about it, play budget games with FWP while the quiet crisis threatens to get a lot less quiet soon?
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