'Another tool' for officers

The Kootenai County Sheriff's Department will soon save time making tribal arrests, thanks to a memorandum of agreement the county commissioners signed this week.

Under the agreement between the county, sheriff's department and the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, county law enforcement would be able to arrest individuals with tribal warrants.

Without the agreement, said Capt. Dan Soumas, the county can only detain such individuals and call Coeur d'Alene Tribe law enforcement to drive over and make an arrest.

"It's going to save time, and it's going to save the tribe time and money," Soumas said. "Basically it's quicker response."

The commissioners voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve the agreement.

"It is another step in working with the tribe to make this a better and safe community," said Commissioner Rick Currie.

The agreement still needs to be signed by the tribe. Tribal spokesperson Marc Stewart was confident that would happen by early October.

"I don't think it was a huge problem," Stewart said of the county stumbling across individuals with tribal warrants. "This is just a nice piece to add to law enforcement, to make sure our law enforcement is working together."

The tribal police chief wasn't available to comment.

The county and tribe already have a cross-deputization agreement, Stewart said, under which the tribe can make arrests on county warrants. The reverse was not originally included because of an oversight, he said.

Soumas didn't know how often county law enforcement detains offenders with tribal warrants.

The county usually comes across those individuals in situations like traffic stops, he said.

"We're not going to run around actively seeking tribal warrants. We have plenty of our own," Soumas said. "It's just another tool in the tool box. We don't have to go, 'You have an exemption here today because I'm not deputized to enforce tribal warrants.' It's efficiency of service."