Benewah County will likely give Coeur d'Alene Tribe police officers the power to arrest nontribal members, cutting off a bill that would have made the same practice an Idaho law.

COEUR d'ALENE - The bill isn't needed now.

Benewah County will likely give Coeur d'Alene Tribe police officers the power to arrest nontribal members, cutting off a bill that would have made the same practice an Idaho law.

That freezes House Bill 500 in the House Judiciary Committee and, awaiting the proper signatures, will implement the first cross-deputization agreement between the Tribe and Benewah County since 2007.

"I'm pleased that the committee was helpful in bringing the parties together," said Rep. Jim Clark, R-Hayden Lake, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. "I think we learned a great deal about law enforcement issues on Indian reservations."

Coeur d'Alene Tribe Chairman Chief Allan said the agreement marked "a new chapter with Benewah County."

"The Tribe's goal from the beginning was to improve public safety on the reservation," he said in a press release following the agreement. "That goal was established through good faith negotiations and the realization that a serious problem needed to be solved."

The pact, tentatively approved Wednesday, means tribal officers and sheriff's deputies will be able to enforce each others' laws - a first in about three years.

Also according to the agreement, tribal officers enforcing the law under cross deputization won't be able to summon nontribal members violating state criminal laws into tribal court, with one exception - boating infractions on the water.

In those situations - such as failure to have a working fire extinguisher or a no-wake zone violation - nontribal members will be given the choice as to whether they wish to be cited in state or tribal court.

Misdemeanor and felony violators would be cited in state court.

Many people testified during last week's hearings on the bill that criminals are going free on the reservation because of the law-enforcement jurisdiction gap that handcuffs tribal officers from enforcing state law against nontribal members on the reservation.

Non-members account for roughly 8,600 of the 10,000 people who live on the reservation, and the Tribe estimated around 1,000 potential criminals may be going free each year.

Following the hearings, lawmakers on the committee held off voting on the bill, urging the two sides to reach an agreement on their own in the interest of public safety.

On Wednesday, they did, though it still needs signatures from the county sheriff and commissioners as well as from the tribal council and police chief.

"I don't know what to say," Clark said of the agreement. "I've never been without words before, but this is huge."

Both sides argued on the topic during the hearing and leading up to it, after the Tribe introduced the bill that would have given their officers that power by state law.

A similar cross-deputization agreement collapsed in 2007, when the Tribe lost the right to arrest nontribal members. The agreement was revoked because tribal officers had been abusing the privilege, Benewah County officials said.

Benewah County Sheriff Bob Kirts, who had opposed the bill, couldn't be reached for comment, but in Associated Press reports said he was optimistic with the agreement.

"It's always good to talk, no doubt about that." said Rep. Dick Harwood, R-St. Maries.

Harwood had also opposed the bill, and wished the sides had reached agreement before the bill was introduced, but is satisfied the sides had negotiated a deal.

"It's going to take a little time for people to heal up from this," he said. "There were some things said and done that will take a little time."

The agreement is renewable annually, and if one party doesn't wish to renew, a 60-day notice must be given. If the Tribe or Benewah County wishes to end the agreement earlier, there must be 30 days notice, which would trigger a cooling-off period and nonbinding arbitration.

Both the Tribe and the county agreed to allow lawsuits over officer wrongdoing.

The cross-deputization agreement is similar to the Tribe's cooperative law enforcement agreement with Kootenai County, with a few exceptions, including the handling of infractions on the water.

"I believe once all the rhetoric calmed down everyone wanted the same thing: public safety," Allan said.