COEUR d'ALENE - A bill that would have given tribal police the authority to arrest non-tribal members on Idaho reservations died Thursday.

House lawmakers narrowly rejected the bill - brought to Boise by the Coeur d'Alene Tribe - 35-34.

It's the second consecutive year the Tribe attempted to remedy a law enforcement loophole between county and tribal officers at the state level, and the second year in a row an agreement won't be reached.

"It's disappointing," Tribe Spokesman Marc Stewart said of the vote. "Despite the setback the Tribe is committed to protecting the reservation community."

That could come by federally deputizing officers in the future, he said.

"The Tribe will explore all of its option moving forward, Stewart said.

Opponents of the bill agreed something must be done to repair the working relationship between the Tribe and Benewah County moving forward.

"I would hope we could come back and sit down and work something out," said Rep. Dick Harwood, R-St. Maries, who spoke against the bill on Thursday. "Everyone knows this is a big, serious thing. It was good debate on both sides, but it needs to be worked out."

The bill, HB 111, would have allowed tribal police officers to work as police officers under state law, should they have all the required training and insurance. It wouldn't have required the county's participation, and non-tribal criminal offenders would have been cited into state court, not tribal court.

The debate on Thursday - as it was last year - was emotional.

Supporters, including Rep. Mack Shirley of Rexburg said the bill wasn't about anything other than "to provide proper law enforcement within the boundaries of the reservation."

But opponents said it was too far reaching, a constitutional question since non-members don't have authority over tribal elections or policies.

"It was tough for me because it was all in my district, both of my constituents," Harwood said. "It was tough to make the call. It boiled down to constitutional rights being taken away or not being taken away."

He said accusations that prejudice and biases played a part in opposing the bill were off base.

Last year, the Tribe dropped proposed legislation after reaching an 11th hour cross-deputization agreement with Benewah County. After the legislative session ended, the deal fell through, with both sides accusing the other of altering language at the last minute enough to changed its meaning.

Currently, the Tribe's police force can detain non-Indians on the reservation who are suspected of breaking the law. But its officers can't arrest them without a pact with Benewah County. Tribal officers say they waited more than 1,000 hours combined last year before county or the Idaho State Police officers arrived to take over, wasting time, money and creating a public-safety gap.

This year, Benewah County also wanted an agreement from the Tribe not to write citations to non-Indians for violations of its own tribal laws, including those governing water quality, docks on the lake or field burning. The Idaho Association of Counties as well as state law enforcement organizations, supported the county's position and opposed the bill.

"I still want to see, in some way, for the Tribe and the county to cooperate again," said Benewah County Prosecutor Doug Payne, from his St. Maries office.

He said the working relationship between the sides used to be a good one until the last couple of years.

"I'd like to see us get back to that status," he said, adding that he hoped the close vote would bring the sides back to the local negotiating table.

The Tribe has a cross-deputization pact in place with Kootenai County, but not with Benewah County since 2007.

When the Tribe returned to the Legislature this year, its leaders said their only other alternative was to pursue expanded law enforcement authority under a federal law passed by Congress last year meant to help address public safety gaps on Indian reservations across the nation.

If it does that, however, any non-Indians arrested on the reservation would have to go to federal, not state court.

Stewart said that wasn't the preferred choice, but a road the Tribe could pursue now.

He added that a decision on the next step will likely be made in the coming weeks.

"We're disappointed, but determined" to find a solution, he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.