Tribe Fights Isp’s Authority Over Speeders On Reservation

Idaho State Police should have no authority to issue speeding tickets to members of the Shoshone-Bannock Indian Tribes on state-maintained roads on the Fort Hall Reservation, the Idaho Supreme Court has been advised.

The court heard an appeal on the subject Thursday in Idaho Falls, and took it under advisement.

Tribal attorney Candy Jackson said an ISP trooper had no jurisdiction when he stopped Rozina George of Fort Hall in 1993 on U.S. Highway 91.

She argued that state troopers have jurisdiction over criminal offenses such as driving under the influence but traffic infractions are civil rather than criminal offenses.

Deputy Attorney General Michael Henderson said the civil designation is one of convenience to avoid jury trials over traffic citations. Speeding tickets still are still subject to the same degree of proof as criminal actions, and the court has ruled that traffic infractions are criminal actions for most court purposes.

Jackson said the issue is important to tribal leaders who are concerned with the survival of the Fort Hall Reservation and its jurisdictional authority.

Justice Byron Johnson asked Jackson if the legal dispute was over “purse strings,” or government revenue from speeding tickets. Jackson said that was not the tribe’s view.

The court’s decision also could affect the controversial practice of Fort Hall Police officers ticketing non-tribal drivers on I-15.

Jackson said that practice has been suspended in an attempt to “keep the peace,” but Fort Hall Police have not conceded jurisdiction. She said there is no difference between a tribal police officer stopping a speeder on the interstate on the reservation and a Utah police officer stopping a speeder in Utah.

George also is appealing a conviction for obstructing an officer, after she refused to give the trooper her registration and proof of insurance. The trooper didn’t have jurisdiction to stop her, so that conviction is invalid, the defense argues.

Henderson said the defense has conceded the state trooper’s right to stop drivers suspected of traffic offenses because he or she wouldn’t know whether a driver is a tribal member until the trooper did a records check.

But Jackson said state authorities won’t be able to determine tribal membership, and she said they don’t need to patrol state highways within the reservation in the first place.

“The state officers have no need for a presence,” she said.