Doug Payne, Benewah County prosector, told the House Judiciary Committee that in his view, his county didn't renege on the deal with the tribe last spring after the Legislature ended. "That was not what occurred in this case," he said. "I thought the deal was workable." But he said the county wasn't willing to accept the tribe enforcing its civil jurisdiction over things like boating speeds, hunting and fishing on tribal lands, and so forth, through citations. The pending bill doesn't address that; it deals with criminal law enforcement only. "Non-tribal members should not be subjected to citation into tribal court period," Payne told the lawmakers.

He said, "The concern here is that the tribe will continue to pass laws without a vote of the people being governed about all sorts of things, especially natural resources use, land, planning and zoning, any number of ... subject matter, and then begin to impose them on non-tribal citizens by the use of citations."

"It worked better, frankly, and my job was easier when tribal and county officers cooperated," Payne said. "We need to resolve this issue so we can start getting along again like we did in the old days, and stop this constant infighting. But something has to be done between the parties. It's not something that can be dealt with elsewhere."

Asked by lawmakers if what he's advocating would be "somehow taking away their right to have some governance over their lands," Payne said it's a tough problem, to allow tribes to have self-determination "without subverting representative government." He said he doesn't dispute that tribes have civil jurisdiction on reservations. But he doesn't want any citations to enforce it. "The tribe can always sue" instead, he said.

Rep. Bill Killen, D-Boise, an attorney, asked Payne, "What I'm hearing is a whole lot about tribal code and tribal court, none of which is in this bill. Are these code words for something we don't understand down here, or what?" Payne responded, "The law can be a very subtle thing." He said he thinks the tribe will "use all available means to impose its will on non-tribal members."