MESKWAKI SETTLEMENT — A new agreement between the State of Iowa and the Meskwaki Nation makes it clear Meskwaki Police have the authority to pursue and arrest suspects who travel outside the Tribe’s Settlement near Tama. The agreement was signed last Thursday in Des Moines by Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, Iowa Public Safety Commissioner Stephan Bayens, and Meskwaki Tribal Chairman Vern
Jefferson.
In 1948, Congress gave the State of Iowa jurisdiction over all crimes committed on the Meskwaki settlement. That law remained in effect for 70 years, creating what legal experts described as a dual-concurrent criminal justice system. Because both the state and the tribe had jurisdiction, a Native American defendant could face prosecution in both state and tribal court for the same offense. Critics said this was not only unfair and burdensome, but it also violated basic principles of justice and due process. To address those inequities, Congress repealed the law in 2018, but the repeal also created new uncertainty over law enforcement boundaries…