SB 584

Under current law, one law enforcement agency may respond to a request for

assistance from another law enforcement agency. The requesting agency is

responsible for defending a responding officer in a civil action arising out of the

officer's response and for indemnifying the officer for the amount of any civil

penalties imposed or damages awarded in such an action. The responding agency

is responsible for personnel costs (such as the salary and benefits of the responding

officers) and other costs related to a response (such as damage to equipment), but

may bill the requesting agency for these costs. Current law does not apply to tribal

law enforcement agencies.

This bill authorizes tribal law enforcement agencies both to request assistance

from state, county, and municipal law enforcement agencies and to respond to

requests for assistance from such agencies. It assigns responsibility for defending

and indemnifying officers in civil actions arising out of a response and responsibility

for the costs associated with a response in the same manner as current law.

To ensure that a tribe's responsibility for the costs of a law enforcement agency

that responds to its request for assistance can be enforced, however, the bill limits

the authority of a state, county, or municipal law enforcement agency to respond to

a request for assistance from a tribal law enforcement agency to cases in which one

of the following applies:

1. The tribe has adopted a resolution waiving its sovereign immunity to the

extent required to allow enforcement of this responsibility in state courts or a

resolution that the Department of Justice (DOJ) determines has the same effect.

2. The tribe maintains insurance to cover these costs up to specified limits.

3. The responding law enforcement agency has an agreement with the tribal

law enforcement agency under which the responding law enforcement agency

accepts the responsibility for these costs.

The bill requires that, for one of the foregoing actions to have the effect of

allowing a nontribal law enforcement agency to respond to a request for assistance

from a tribal law enforcement agency, the tribal law enforcement agency must have

provided a copy of the resolution, insurance policy, or agreement to DOJ, and DOJ

must have posted the document or a notice of the document on the Internet site that

it maintains for exchanging information with law enforcement agencies.