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WASHBURN - The McLean County State's Attorney plans to schedule a community meeting in White Shield to discuss the tribal and county law enforcement relationship in response to a petition from some tribal members for an investigation of the county sheriff.
State's Attorney Ladd Erickson met with the McLean County Commission on Tuesday, Nov. 10, to refute criticisms of the McLean County Sheriff's Department that have been circulating among tribal members and on social media.
Lissa Yellowbird Chase of White Shield, who has raised concerns about unequal enforcement by the sheriff's office, also spoke, but commissioners noted many of the allegations raised in the petition are outside their purview. The commissioners supported the meeting in White Shield as the best venue to address the issues and indicated interest in personally attending.
Erickson made the offer of a White Shield meeting after presenting his investigation into petition allegations that McLean County Sheriff J.R. Kerzmann has declined to allow charges against tribal officials with whom he is friends or their family members.
Erickson looked into records that track actions taken by deputies and found cases were handled appropriately based on information at the scene and in accordance with a mutual agreement with the tribe regarding the county's involvement in incidents on the reservation.
Erickson addressed one incident involving a critical injury to a woman, who was a passenger in a vehicle driven by a relative of East Segment Tribal Council member Fred Fox of White Shield. McLean County Commission Chairman Curt Olson, then a county deputy, provided emergency response on the reservation and called for the North Dakota Highway Patrol to investigate. When the Highway Patrol declined, Kerzmann stepped in and contacted the Highway Patrol commander to get assistance.
Tribal law enforcement also arrived and made the arrest. Erickson said the matter wasn't pursued further by the sheriff's office because it was a tribal case at that point. The only involvement of Fred Fox was in removing the involved vehicle at the request of the sheriff's office. Erickson said the record showed no evidence of a coverup as some allege.
Erickson also conducted research back to 2010 that found tribal council members did not receive favored treatment in connection with offenses such as speeding or driving under the influence.
The petition presented to the county commission included an affidavit from a former deputy alleging a number of improper actions. Kerzmann said he looked into the incidents, including one that involved the former deputy, and found false information being disseminated.
"It sounds good on Facebook, but it's all fabricated," Erickson said.
County law enforcement and the tribe have a good working relationship, he added. He said the tribe pays $160,000 annually under a contract requiring the sheriff's office to provide visibility, emergency response and training of tribal officers.
"If people don't think they're getting a value for the buck, we'll cancel the contract," he said. "We think we have a big community consensus about how we've handled this, and they want us there.
"I think the best way to handle this, commissioners, is not take this up anymore, because you don't have to. It's really just a ploy for Facebook to put out a bunch of false allegations on our sheriff," Erickson said. "I want to address it in White Shield in front of the whole community because I can prove how many times Fred Fox gets cited. I can prove all of these are lies. There’s no question. Everybody can look through the entire record."
Yellowbird Chase, who had elevated the conversation from social media to the county commission, keyed in on two additional incidents after Erickson had presented his investigation results. One involved her 911 call about an individual in White Shield brandishing a gun. She alleged the dispatcher was dismissive and believed she was playing a prank. She suspected preferential treatment because even when tribal authorities arrived in response to multiple 911 calls, the individual was not apprehended.
She also detailed an incident in which a SWAT team responded to an autistic teenager leaning over a second-story balcony to toss treats to dogs.
"I'm not blaming your officers," Yellowbird Chase said, conceding they were simply responding when called. However, she said she welcomes the meeting in White Shield to clarify responsibilities in the tribal-county contract in light of the need to provide safety to everyone equally.