The Brief
- A new Washington law allows state and tribal law enforcement agencies to certify tribal warrants as state warrants, facilitating arrests and returns to tribal lands.
- Tribes must comply with federal and state laws to achieve certification, ensuring transparency in criminal laws and procedures, and affirming defendants’ rights.
- Non-certified tribes must submit extradition requests to state authorities, with a list of certified tribes available on the Attorney General’s Office website.
OLYMPIA, Wash. – Washington state adopted a new law on Tuesday, allowing warrants issued by tribal police departments to be certified as state warrants.
This means that any warrant issued by tribal law enforcement will now be enforced by state authorities, following certification by the Attorney General’s Office.
The state Legislature passed HB 1829, sponsored by Rep. Debra Lekanoff, D-Anacortes, updating the Tribal Warrants Act enacted last year. The rule empowers law enforcement outside the state’s tribal lands and reservations to arrest suspects subject to tribal court warrants.…