D.S.D.: Tribal officers can stop non-Indians for apparent offenses on tribal lands

While tribes generally do not have criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians, tribal officers can stop people for apparent offenses on tribal lands. Defendant’s pretextual stop argument is rejected because there was an objective basis for it. United States v. Santistevan, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 72263 (D.S.D. Apr. 30, 2019):

Although tribes generally do not have criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians, Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe, 435 U.S. 191, 195, 212 (1978), tribal police have the authority to detain non-Indians who commit crimes within Indian country until they can be turned over to the appropriate state or federal authorities, Duro v. Reina. 495 U.S. 676, 697 (1990) (“Tribal law enforcement authorities have the power to restrain those who disturb public order on the reservation, and if necessary, to eject them. Where jurisdiction to try and punish an offender rests outside the tribe, tribal officers may exercise their power to detain the offender and transport him to the proper authorities.”); United States v. Terry, 400 F.3d 575, 579 (8th Cir. 2005) (explaining that tribal officers have the authority “to detain non-Indians whose conduct disturbs the public order on their reservation”). Nevertheless, a tribal officer’s detention of a non-Indian must still be reasonable under Fourth Amendment standards. 25 U.S.C. § 1302(2); Terry, 400 F.3d at 580.