State Supreme Court upholds ruling on Flathead Reservation criminal jurisdiction
The Montana Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a district court ruling against Lake County, which had argued the State of Montana should reimburse the local government for federal criminal oversight on the Flathead Reservation.
Writing for the majority, Supreme Court Justice Beth Baker concluded that it remains the Montana Legislature’s “discretion to determine whether and how much to fund the county’s P.L. 280 costs,” affirming the District Court Judge Amy Eddy’s 2023 ruling to dismiss the case.
“It wasn’t a huge surprise to me. We knew it was going to be uphill going in, but we knew it was a step we needed to take in our process to get funding,” Lake County Commissioner Bill Barron told the Daily Montanan.
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