Judge: Mille Lacs Co. Sheriff’s Office Exercised Unlawful Restrictions on Tribal Law Enforcement

A federal judge has ruled that the Mille Lacs County Sheriff’s Office exercised unlawful restrictions on Mille Lacs tribal law enforcement.

The January 10 ruling is in regards to a dispute over tribal boundaries between the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe and Mille Lacs County. Mille Lacs Band chairwoman Melanie Benjamin says the ruling confirms the county sheriff’s inability to interfere with tribal police department duties. These duties include investigating activities on the original 1855 reservation treaty land, which was ruled to still be intact in 2022.

Mille Lacs County administrator Dillon Hayes said in a press release this ruling would disenfranchise non-Natives who live on the 61,000 acres of reservation land. An appeal is possible, but Hayes says they want to first conduct a “careful review” and analysis of the ruling.