COEUR d'ALENE - Opponents are continuing to debate proposed legislation that would allow Coeur d'Alene Tribe officers to cite non-tribal members violating state law on reservations.

According to a preliminary legal analysis by Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden's Office, House Bill 500 is perfectly legal.

Those against it, however, aren't putting much too much weight behind the report. They say the legislation violates the state's constitution.

But those backing the bill said the legal opinion from a high-ranking third party should be enough to put the constitutional question on the back burner.

"I think it's pretty clear," said Rep. Jim Clark, chairman of the House Judiciary and Rules Committee. "Now we can start talking about the facts and not that it's unconstitutional."

Clark requested an Attorney General opinion to address constitutional questions regarding the State and Indian Tribal Cooperative Law Enforcement Act.

Assistant Chief Deputy Attorney General Brian Kane responded to the request in a Feb. 23, letter that states that the bill doesn't attempt to displace any county sheriffs' authority to enforce state law.

"The Attorney General's opinion confirms what we knew from day one," said Chief Allan, Tribe chairman, "that many of the opposition's arguments against (the bill) were simply unfounded."

But Benewah Prosecuting Attorney Douglas Payne said the analysis missed the mark since it didn't address the right of suffrage.

"I don't think it changes anything," Payne said of the analysis. "Under the Idaho Constitution, the right of suffrage is guaranteed."

Non-tribal members wouldn't have the right to vote in tribal elections, he said, and that's the problem.

If a sheriff is abusing power, voters can vote that sheriff out, and if a police chief abuses power, they can vote for a mayor and city council who promises to discipline that chief.

The issue isn't relegated to Benewah County. Several state associations have sided with Benewah County's voting claim, including the state's prosecuting attorneys and sheriffs associations.

The North Idaho Citizens Alliance also wasn't convinced by the Attorney General's opinion.

Pam Secord, 10-year member to the 150 or so member group, responded to an e-mail sent from Tribe spokesman Marc Stewart notifying the group of the Attorney General's opinion as "hilarious."

"Just because you paid someone to say it, does not mean it so," she wrote Stewart.

On Monday, she said that the e-mail wasn't meant to suggest Wasden's office accepted bribes, but that the financially stronger Tribe has received unfair biased press coverage on the issue since they are advertisers in those publications.

"We don't have the money to influence anybody," she said Monday. "Benewah County hasn't gotten a fair shake. It's been a P.R. war for Benewah County."

Also at issue is how many of the alleged law breakers are going free under current law.

The Tribe estimated that thousands of non-tribal criminals are going free on the reservation because tribal officers can't arrest them.

Payne said his office doesn't field nearly that number of reports from law breakers slipping through the cracks.

But Stewart said in an attempt to start figuring those exact numbers, the Benewah County Sheriff's Office didn't fully comply with a records request, leaving out thousands of call logs over the months of request.

Sheriff Bob Kirts said those records were not public information since they didn't deal with Tribe officers or they were reports where no contact was ever made.

"They seem to be misinterpreting the records law," Stewart said, adding the Tribe stands by those estimates. "The public has a right to see these documents."

The bill is awaiting a public hearing in the Judiciary Rules Committee.