Sex offenders no longer will be able to find a sanctuary on tribal reservations.
Five of the state's 11 American Indian tribes announced Tuesday they have signed an agreement with the state to plug a loophole that allowed tribal members convicted of sex offenses to live on reservations without notifying law enforcement officials. Five other tribes are close to doing the same, while the remaining reservation, Red Lake, is policed by federal officers and doesn't need to make changes.
"It was like opening up the gates of hell," Leech Lake band Chairman George Googleye Jr. said of a court ruling allowing sex offenders to live undetected on his reservation.
"We all have a common interest," White Earth reservation Police Chief Bill Brunelle said. "We did not want to make a safe haven on the reservation for sex offenders."
Leaders of five tribes and Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch appeared together to announce an agreement among the tribes and the state, as well as changes in reservation laws that require sex offenders to register with police. Combined, they allow state and tribal police to track sex offenders.
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The actions are a response to a suit filed by Peter Jones, who claimed Minnesota law requiring sex offenders to register did not apply to him because he is a Leech Lake tribal member and was living on the reservation, a sovereign nation. Two courts have agreed with Jones, and the state Supreme Court hears his case next month.
Reservations that have changed their laws are White Earth, Leech Lake, Boise Forte, Prairie Island and Upper Sioux. Hatch said only details remain before the state's other five tribal councils do the same.
"We want to make sure that high-risk predators cannot hide from the law," Hatch said.
Under state law, when a sex offender with a high likelihood of reoffending moves into a neighborhood, a public meeting must be held to notify the public.
With the agreement announced Tuesday, that also will happen on most reservations.
Tribal leaders said they don't know how many unregistered sex offenders live on reservations. There are about 55,000 Indians in the state, but many do not live on reservations. White Earth, for instance, has about 25,000 members, with about 5,000 on its northwest Minnesota reservation.
Besides registration and community notification, White Earth officials are considering requiring the most dangerous sex offenders to wear devices that track their movements once they get out of prison.
Audrey Kohnen, president of the Prairie Island Tribal Council, said Tuesday's announcement is important because it shows tribal and state governments can work together. "It is important to work on a government-to-government basis," she said.
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From the Upper Sioux Indian Community, Chairman Kevin Jensvold said the government decided it had to protect its 439 members and their neighbors from "society's ills."
