ARIZONA STATE LEGISLATURE
JOINT LEGISLATIVE STUDY COMMITTEE ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE STATE
AND THE NAVAJO NATION
Minutes of the Meeting
November 21, 2002
10:00 a.m. Senate Hearing Room
109
Members Present:
Senator Ken Bennett Representative Tom O'Halleran
Senator Pete Rios Mr. Raymond C. Etcitty
Mr. Ron Lee Mr. Derrick Watchman
Senator John Verkamp Representative Jake Flake
Staff:
Nadine Sapien, Senate Research Analyst
Dallas Gold, Senate Assistant Research Analyst
Senator Jackson called the meeting to order at 11:00 a.m. and attendance was noted. For additional attendees, see Sign-in Sheet (Attachment A).
OPENING REMARKS
Senator Jackson opined
that a formal relationship between the State and the Navajo Nation, as well as
with all of the tribes within the State is needed to create guidelines to deal
with critical issues such as the decline of water and other natural resources.
He stated that formalizing the relationship between the State and the Navajo
Nation would be a benefit for both entities.
PRESENTATION ON CROSS DEPUTIZING LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENTS
Dorothy Fulton, Acting Executive Director, Department for
the Division of Public Safety for the Navajo Nation and Chief of Police for the
Navajo Nation, commented that during the last
few years she has been advocating on behalf of Navajo Nation Law Enforcement
and Navajo Nation Public Safety Programs with both New Mexico and Arizona. She remarked that Division of Public Safety
for the Navajo Nation is currently working on various issues with counties in
New Mexico and Arizona. She remarked
that there has been more activity with the State of New Mexico although efforts
have been made with the State of Arizona.
Director Fulton stated
that currently, Navajo Nation Law Enforcement and Navajo Nation Public Safety
Programs service over eighty chapters with a total of 220 police officers. She noted that 120 of those officers are
assigned to Arizona. She commented that
out of the 250,000 calls for services on the Navajo Nation, 38,000 result in
arrests. With only 103 bed spaces available,
she noted that it is increasingly difficult to place these people in the jail
system. She explained that
approximately 1,000 of the 250,000 calls for services involve major crimes,
such as homicides, child and sexual abuse and other serious crimes that are
processed through the Federal Court System.
She noted that there are 39 criminal investigators that respond and
provide technical assistance and investigation on major crimes. Additionally, Navajo Nation Law Enforcement
has a violent crimes task force agreement with the Federal Bureau of
Investigations (FBI) and the US Attorney's Office, which allows the Navajo
Nation Law Enforcement investigators the ability to be cross deputized as US
Marshals and therefore do not have to wait for FBI agents at the crime scene to
act.
Director Fulton
explained that one of the ways Navajo Nation Law Enforcement has explored the
problem of the high volume of calls is with a mutual aid agreement with the
counties in both New Mexico and Arizona.
As a result, in 1998 Navajo Nation Law Enforcement entered in its first
cross deputization agreement with McKinley County, New Mexico. This agreement has not improved the
relationship between McKinley County and the Navajo Nation because Navajo
Nation Law Enforcement officers still have limited jurisdiction, even though
the officers meet all New Mexico State standards. She noted that there is reluctance from the county law
enforcement officers to use the Navajo Nation Law Enforcement forms, detention
booking process or tribal courts. There
has been an increase in the number of concerns and complaints filed with the
Department of Justice regarding liability issues from individuals that were
arrested by county law enforcement.
These incidents are pending as potential law suits.
Director Fulton stated
that there is a need for mutual aid agreements with counties in Arizona. She stated that communication with Sheriff
Richardson from Coconino County has begun regarding the Antelope Point
area. She stated that communication
with Apache and Navajo Counties has been quiet. She stated that there has been an increase of requests for the
temporary commissioning of officers and to have them present at more activities
that are occurring in and around the Navajo Nation, such as at fairs and other
events. She opined that there is no
need for a cross commissioning agreement with Arizona because Navajo Nation Law
Enforcement police officers are certified and commissioned by the State of
Arizona and the Navajo Nation Law Enforcement Police Academy meets the Arizona
Peace Officer Standards and Training (AZ POST) standards and have been
certified by the State.
Director Fulton
distributed a handout which included a copy of the Cross-Commission Agreement
between the Navajo Nation and the McKinley County Sheriff's Office, New Mexico;
a copy of the Navajo Nation Mutual Aid Agreement Draft, 2000 and a copy of the
Memorandum of Understanding between the Navajo Nation and the Counties in
Arizona Draft, February 2002 (Attachment B).
Director Fulton
explained that Coconino, Navajo and Apache Counties returned these forms with
their proposals that are being reviewed by the Navajo Department of
Justice. She stated that the
Department of Justice is concerned that the creation of these agreements may
compromise the Navajo Nation's sovereignty.
Director Fulton stated
that the relationship between the states and the Navajo Nation greatly effects
law enforcement due to financial assistance from the States. She explained that
New Mexico funds Navajo Nation Law Enforcement with $600/police officer that is
certified under New Mexico standards.
This funding is used for a variety of law enforcement needs, such as
equipment or training. Arizona does not
fund any Navajo Nation Law Enforcement needs.
She remarked Navajo Nation Law Enforcement would like to see similar
support from Arizona, but realizes that this responsibility is being delegated
to the counties. She noted that
requests have been placed to the counties for assistance with autopsies,
support with equipment and other needs, which have not been fulfilled. She stated that last year an initiative
regarding death investigations was submitted to cover the costs of autopsies
and external exams that are conducted on death cases that occur outside of
hospitals in New Mexico. New Mexico
passed legislation last year to fund $50,000 per year for autopsies and
external exams in Indian Country. She
stated Navajo Nation Law Enforcement sought parity for this situation, as
outside of Indian Country, all law enforcement agencies in the State of New
Mexico are provided funds for autopsies and external examinations.
Director Fulton remarked
that another area under review is the sharing of driving under the influence
(DUI) information with Arizona. She
stated that Navajo Nation Law Enforcement will be coming to the State to request
that it be allowed to share its DUI data with the State to have another
mechanism in place to address repeat DUI offenders. Currently, with Navajo
Nation law and the current lack of bed space, Navajo Nation Law Enforcement can
not address DUI cases in a way that it would like to. She opined that if Arizona were to enter into an agreement with
Navajo Nation Law Enforcement to share this information, these offenders could
be penalized in a different manner other than tribal jail time. She stated that Navajo Nation Law
Enforcement is reviewing using a current agreement that is going through the
process, where fingerprint data would also be shared with the State of
Arizona. She stated that Navajo Nation
Law Enforcement recently was awarded grant monies to establish the Arizona
fingerprinting system within the Navajo Nation.
Director Fulton noted
that still another area under review is to further the Navajo Nation's
relationship and gain recognition of the police academy in Toyei
the State of Arizona. She stated
that it is Navajo Nation Law Enforcement's hope that the academy would be
recognized by the State as a northern Arizonan police academy rather than a
Navajo Nation law enforcement academy, as it meets the State's standards and
curriculum requirements.
In response to
Representative Laughter, Director Fulton reiterated that the Department of
Justice is concerned that the creation of cross commissioning agreements may
compromise the Navajo Nation's sovereignty.
She remarked that Navajo Nation Law Enforcement would like to see
Arizona's recommendations for guidelines for the creation of
government-to-government agreements with the Arizona counties. She stated that protocols in these
agreements need to be established to deal with controversial issues, such as
the issuance of tickets to avoid problems.
Representative Laughter
recommended that the Navajo Nation might submit its recommendations for the
agreements based on agreements made with the New Mexico counties. She stated that by doing so, the Navajo
Nation would retain its sovereignty and help facilitate the agreements being
created with the Arizonan counties.
Representative Laughter
asked if the main focus for wanting to establish the agreements is for Arizona
to assist with funding. Director Fulton
remarked that the agreements are not to obtain funding. She stated that a mutual aid agreement is to
recognize that a relationship exists between the Navajo Nation and the State of
Arizona and specifies under what circumstances and where county law enforcement
officers would be called upon for assistance on the reservation to enhance
Navajo Nation Law Enforcement. She
stated that the funding received by New Mexico is a new issue and noted that
Navajo Nation Law Enforcement has not requested any funding support from
Arizona in the past.
Mr. Watchman opined that
in the 1970s, out of necessity, it was recognized that there was a need for
cross deputization in New Mexico. He
opined that now in Arizona, the issue facing Navajo Nation Law Enforcement is
the lack of uniformity between how the New Mexico counties and Arizona county
law enforcement officers enforce county, state and Navajo law on
reservations. He remarked the process
itself is also an issue. Director
Fulton stated Mr. Watchman's comments were correct.
Mr. Lee commented that
this issue might be addressed with educating county law enforcement officers at
the northern Arizonan police academy in
Toyei.
Representative Laughter
remarked that this might be best addressed in legislation. She asked if Senator Bennett would be in
support of legislation to address this issue.
Senator Bennett remarked that he would be in support of trying to pass
legislation that would implement good ideas.
He stated that one option is to make the Navajo Nation its own county,
but noted that this may make other tribes want to become individual counties as
well.
Mr. Watchman remarked
that there is ambiguity with how county and state laws are enforced by Navajo
Nation Law Enforcement and by county law enforcement officers.
Senator Rios commented
that it was his understanding that these important issues of mutual concern,
such as law enforcement, homeland security, water issues and other issues that
lack clear definition, were to be addressed by the Committee by trying to
create a piece of legislation that would authorize the Arizona Indian
Commission, or some other entity to review.
He remarked that entity would then report back to the Legislature to
have legislation created to address these areas of concern.
Senator Bennett asked if
Navajo Nation Law Enforcement officers are able to enforce Navajo Nation laws
as well as State and county laws.
Director Fulton stated that Navajo Nation Law Enforcement officers are
encouraged to enforce Navajo Nation laws, however if the situation arises and
the need exists for the use of State or Federal law, Navajo Nation Law
Enforcement officers enforce them. She
stated that it varies from incident to incident. She commented that Navajo Nation Law Enforcement would expect any
law enforcement personnel or agency to respect the laws of the Navajo Nation
and enforce the laws of the Navajo Nation.
Mr. Etcitty remarked
that offenses committed on the reservation, the Navajo Nation, by its
authority, is limited to dealing with misdemeanor offenses. When offenses are felonies, because it
occurred on a reservation, federal law would prevail. He noted that in some instances, state governments might wish to
be involved as well. He stated that
these jurisdictional overlaps create a problem with uniformity. He stated that creating a protocol to
address these situations is needed. He
stated that cross deputizing allows for a state officer to enforce Navajo
Nation law and Navajo Nation officers to enforce state law, but it does not
outline which law should be used.
Representative Laughter
commented that before a state and a tribe can reach an agreement, she opined
that the tribe needs to create the perimeters of its preferences or
recommendation. She stated that this
would assist in the creation of uniformity.
She opined that this topic needs further discussion and recommended that
interested parties should meet outside of the Committee.
Director Fulton stated
that this issue has become a sensitive issue for Navajo Nation Law
Enforcement. She noted that Navajo
Nation Law Enforcement has reached an impasse with the creation of an agreement
between the counties of Arizona and the Navajo Nation. She stated that both sides have submitted
their recommendations and there has been an expectation of negotiations since
April 2002, when the Navajo Nation submitted their recommendations to the
counties. She stated that Navajo Nation
Law Enforcement is now waiting for negotiations to begin.
Senator Bennett excused
himself from the meeting at 12:00 p.m.
In response to Senator Jackson, he stated that he would support a
recommendation to continue the Committee for several more years to continue
studying this situation.
PRESENTATION OF DRAFT MODEL RELATIONSHIP
Ron Lee, Arizona Commission on Indian Affairs (ACIA), distributed handouts entitled A Model for Building
Tribal-State Relations, Arizona Indian Town hall Process and a copy of ARS
§41-1108, House Engrossed Senate Bill 1113 and House Engrossed House Bill 2632
(Attachments C, D and E). He remarked
that the Navajo Nation has the most established relationship with the State of
any of the tribes, but noted that many tribes do not care to have any type of
formalized relationship with the State.
As a result, he opined that the Committee needs to be careful with
creating a definition of “a formal
relationship” that would be different amongst the various tribes. He stated that since his appointment in 1988
to the ACIA, he has learned that some tribes want to remain autonomous and do
not want the State to be involved in their affairs. The following are highlights from his slide presentation, A Model
for Building Tribal-State Relations:
·
Brief history of
Tribal-State relations prior to 1999, mission and scope.
·
Explanation of new
vision, with the need to develop ongoing dialogue.
·
Outline of needed
organizational development.
·
New Town Hall Forum
outline
·
Explanation and
outline of purpose and activities before, during and after the Town Hall Forum.
·
Explanation of Indian
Nations and Tribes Legislative Day, purpose and activities.
·
Explanation of
developing a cycle of ongoing activities and proposed legislative changes.
·
Indian Nations Day and
The Arizona Indian Town Hall Process – Executive Summary
Representative Laughter moved that the Committee make a recommendation to introduce legislation to move the date of the Indian Nations and Tribal Legislative Day to the Thursday of the second week of session, per Ron Lee’s recommendation. The motion CARRIED by voice vote.
Representative Laughter moved that the Committee make a recommendation to introduce legislation to add ARS §41-1108 back into the statute for Indian Nations and Tribal Legislative Day. The motion CARRIED by voice vote.
Representative Laughter moved that the Committee make a recommendation to introduce legislation to have an intern from each of the universities including an intern from any interested tribal organizations, college or university to report in the form of a thesis to the Legislature and to Indian Nations and Tribal Legislatven Day.
Representative
O’Halleran remarked that in theory he did not have a problem with this
recommendation, but he would be hesitant to move forward with the
recommendation until the Committee has more information and discussion.
Mr. Lee commented that
rather than having an intern from the universities, he would recommend having
the Legislature hire an intern for the ACIA to perform research and track
legislation.
Senator Rios explained
the interns that are hired by the Legislature receive college credit for their
intern service and are paid from the House and Senate budgets. He noted that
other state agencies hire interns in a similar manner and pay the interns
salaries from the agency’s budgets. He
opined that if the ACIA wants an intern for research purposes, the salary for
the intern would need to come from the agency’s budget, not from the
Legislature’s. He remarked that he
would not be in support of Representative Laughter’s motion.
Representative Laughter withdrew her motion.
REVIEW OF DRAFT COMMITTEE REPORT
Nadine Sapien, Senate Research Analyst, distributed a handout entitled Draft, Joint
Legislative Study Committee on the Relationship Between the State and the
Navajo Nation, 2002, Final Report (Attachment F). She commented the recommendations that were voted on today would
be included in the Draft of the final report.
Representative
O’Halleran, referring to the Draft, commented that in the Committee charge it
is stated that the Committee shall: (1) review the history of the formation of
the Navajo Nation, including the status of the Navajo Nation at the time of
statehood; (2) review the legal implications of the citizenship status of
Navajo Nation members in relation to their tribe, the United States and this
State; (3) review the legal implications of the Navajo Nation's sovereignty,
including the issue of taxation and problems that have arisen when there have
been differences between the laws or policies of this State, or a county, and
the laws or policies of the Navajo Nation; (4) compile a list of State programs
that provide services to tribal residents, including those services provided by
the Department of Education and the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System
administration and study the manner in which those agencies coordinate with
tribal governments in administering those programs; (5) determine which
universities and community college districts provide courses on reservations
and determine the manner in which tribal approval for those courses is obtained;
and (6) evaluate the possible impact of making the Navajo Nation a separate
county. The Committee shall make
recommendations on the following: (1) statutory and administrative procedure
changes to improve coordination between State, county and tribal governments in
providing services to reservation residents; (2) methods to increase
partnership efforts between the State, counties and Navajo Nation; (3) other
methods to improve relationships between State, county and tribal governments. The Committee shall submit a written report
on or before December 15, 2002, of its findings and recommendations to the
Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President of the Senate and the
Governor. The Committee shall provide a
copy of its report to the Secretary of State and the Director of the Arizona
State Library, Archives, and Public Records.
He asked if the Committee has completed any of these tasks.
Ms. Sapien stated that
not many of the Committee charge items have been addressed by the Committee.
Representative
O’Halleran opined that it is important that the Committee follow the charge
that was set forth and to deal with these issues in some way so that the Navajo
Nation members and members of other tribes have an idea of how they can deal
with the State. He stated that after
reading the minutes of prior meetings, he did not feel that the Committee has
fulfilled its charge.
Senator Jackson stated
that a number of items on the Committee Charge were good ideas, but were hard
to accomplish as it was very difficult to get a quorum. He stated that he attempted to obtain
information from the Navajo people to ascertain if there was a need for a
formal relationship. He opined that
this has been established by the testimony given at the Committee meetings. He stated that he is satisfied with what
the Committee has done so far.
RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING THE INTRODUCTION OF LEGISLATION TO CREATE A NEW STUDY COMMITTEE
Representative
O’Halleran recommended that one of the Committee’s recommendations should be
the continuance of the Committee to fulfill the Committee’s obligations. He opined that it is important for the
Legislative body to fully understand the programs that are provided to tribal
residents so that it can know if the State is fulfilling its obligation to all
of the citizens of the State.
Representative O’Halleran moved that the Committee include in the final report a recommendation to introduce legislation to establish a new Study Committee for two years starting with the next legislative session of the relationship between the State and all the Native American tribes within the State. The motion CARRIED by voice vote.
ADOPT FINAL REPORT
Representative Laughter moved that the Committee ADOPT the final report and direct staff to include the Committee’s approved recommendations. The motion CARRIED by voice vote.
In response to
Representative Laughter, Ms. Sapien explained that the Committee would be
terminated as of December 31, 2002. She
stated that should legislation be passed to establish a new study committee,
the general effect date would be somewhere around August 2003, unless there was
an emergency clause.
Senator Rios stated that
an ad hoc committee could be formed to continue the Committee’s work until a
new study committee is established.
Representative
O’Halleran stated that it is his intention to work with Representative Laughter
and others to make sure that this work continues uninterrupted.
RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING THE SUBMISSION OF THE COMMITTEE'S FINAL REPORT TO THE NAVAJO NATION FOR REVIEW
Senator Jackson stated that he recently spoke with the newly
elected Navajo President and they agreed that the draft model relationship
would need to be approved by the Navajo Nation. Senator Jackson
instructed staff to forward the final report to the Navajo Nation for review.
Without objection, the meeting was adjourned at 12:50 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Tracey Moulton
Committee Secretary
(Tapes and attachments on file in the Secretary of the Senate’s Office/Resource Center, Room 115.)
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Joint Legislative Study Committee on the Relationship
between the State and the Navajo Nation
November 21, 2002
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