Rediscovering home: Local law enforcement

Law enforcement was light for those growing up in Superior in the 1970s.  

Longtime Sheriff Frances Tametta was renowned for not regularly carrying a firearm. He did arm himself when necessary, however. Phil Camel, whose wife was good friends with my aunt Betty (Moats) Vyse, worked under Sheriff Tametta. By my high school years, two other officers patrolled Superior streets.  Young folks referred to them as “Fat Tennis Shoe” and “Harry, the Cop.” Not entirely respectful, I know. 

Harry Peterson drove a big blue car with the old “cherry” lights riding the roof. I don’t remember the name of the officer who got his name from the high-top Converse shoes he wore. He drove a slightly beat-up, purple Mustang Mach 1 with his red light on the dash. 

One day I pulled out from a business on River Street with my car full of friends. My friend, Val Balison, saw me pulling out. He also saw the purple Mustang nearby. He sped up and put on the brakes, as if I pulled out in front of him. Sure enough, I got stopped. 

Law enforcement in the county is obviously much different today. The sheriff’s department has marked vehicles and uniforms. But, of course, those things do not automatically make a professional department.   

Problems during the administration of past sheriffs resulted in a 2022 lawsuit seeking a writ of mandamus from the district court, ordering the Mineral County Attorney’s Office to disclose so-called Brady information to the defense. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brady that constitutional right to due process before a person can be denied life, liberty or property requires prosecutors disclose certain information to defense counsel. Such evidence must be favorable to the defense on the issue of guilt, or evidence the defense could use to discredit law enforcement witnesses, such as officer dishonesty. Brady, as it pertains to law enforcement disclosure, presents challenges that have caused this case to seemingly develop a life of its own. It will be examined more closely in a future column. 

A writ of mandamus asks the court to order a lower court or a government agency to act where there is no room for discretion. The petition was filed Sept. 20, 2022, by 129 plaintiffs and the court granted it about three weeks later. The court ordered the Mineral County Attorney’s office to immediately: 

- Investigate any evidence favorable to defendants known to the county officers; 

- Audit all closed cases to ensure Brady information had been disclosed, and send the information to defense counsel; 

- Disclose Brady information in all open cases. 

The court issued a caveat in instructing that confidential criminal justice information be protected.    

The parties entered into a settlement agreement on May 26, 2023. Among the key provisions was the hiring of a court supervisor appointed by the court to assist the county attorney in completing items in the court’s order. The county was to work with counsel for the petitioners to complete an audit of sheriff’s employees to make sure each met statutory requirements to be an officer or dispatcher.  

The supervisor, Robert J. Long, of Polson, issued his report on Nov. 16, 2023. 

His findings are interesting. First, he found that the audit of unqualified law enforcement officers was complete. The county attorney temporarily hired a former employee to complete the audit. Long criticized the office for not hiring the employee earlier. Long did say that the Sheriff’s Office had struggled to hire qualified officers.   

“The problem in Mineral County was, by any measure, large and serious,” he wrote. 

Long was asked to assess the workload of the County Attorney’s Office and found that “another full-time criminal deputy and investigator” was needed.  

So, big surprise here, the solution requires money. Mineral County has difficulty attracting qualified and/or experienced officers with the current pay. Once it finds a candidate who is a good fit and it pays for his or her training, the officer will often move to a larger department that pays better.   

Sheriff Ryan Funke has campaigned for more pay for his officers. County Attorney Deb Jackson has her hands full prosecuting criminal cases alone. 

Long noted what county residents well know: “State drug interdiction efforts and commercial trucking enforcement on Interstate 90 cannot but significantly impact the workload of the County Attorney’s Office on top of all the other criminal matters handled by the office.”   

The same roadway that brings tourists our way also brings problems not of our making. 

About 93% of the county is owned by the government. That leaves 7% as the county tax base. The Sheriff’s Office, obviously a top priority, has a budget of just short of $1 million. The county tax revenue is only about $1.5 million. The department would consume about two-thirds of the budget if the county did not receive other revenue, including money from the federal government for housing prisoners and the Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT] program. But the revenue falls short of the needs cited in the supervisor’s report.  

Understandably, population is used in calculating PILT payments, but that ignores the economics of scale. For instance, a service may cost the same whether it serves a few hundred or a few thousand. The formula needs to change to better recognize the reality faced by rural governments and people. 

This matter is of vital interest to Mineral County residents, so I anticipate writing one or two more columns about this case. Subjects may include the controversial settlement provisions requiring county attorney or commissioner involvement in the hiring of deputies; a second case pitting county offices against the other that evolved from the Writ; why the cases continue; and what the court must yet decide.