AGO 97061.

• Court: Nebraska

Nebraska Attorney General Opinions 1997. AGO 97061. DATE: November 26, 1997SUBJECT: Tribal police officer; Definition of Law Enforcement Officer under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 81-1401 (Cum. Supp. 1996) as certified under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 81-1414(2) (Cum. Supp. 1996). REQUESTED BY: Jeffrey P. Goltz, Deputy Richardson County AttorneyWRITTEN BY: Don Stenberg, Attorney General Jennifer S. Liliedahl, Assistant Attorney General QUESTION: Do tribal police officers have the authority to stop, detain, and arrest individuals on tribal lands within the definition of Neb. Rev. Stat. § 81-1401 (Cum. Supp. 1996), for a violation of Nebraska state law where such state jurisdiction has not been retroceded to tribal authority? ANSWER: Yes. An inquiry has been made as to whether tribal police officers have the authority to stop, detain, and arrest tribal individuals on tribal lands for violating Nebraska state law, where such state jurisdiction has not been retroceded to tribal authority. The ability of a law enforcement officer to arrest is defined under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 81-1401(4)(a) which states in pertinent part: Law enforcement officer means any person who is responsible for the prevention or detection of crime or the enforcement of the penal, traffic, or highway laws of the state or any political subdivision of the state for more than one hundred hours per year and is authorized by law to make arrests . . . . Neb. Rev. Stat. § 81-1401(4)(a) (Cum. Supp. 1996). The certification process granting the designation of a law enforcement officer with the subsequent ability to arrest is stated in Neb. Rev. Stat. § 81-1414(2): [N]o person shall receive appointment as a law enforcement officer unless he or she has been awarded a certificate by the (Nebraska Commission on Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice) attesting to the satisfactory completion of the minimum curriculum of the training center as established by the (Nebraska Police Standards Advisory Council) or has been awarded a certificate attesting to the satisfactory completion of a training program which the council finds equivalent thereto. Any person who has not been awarded such a certificate may receive an appointment conditioned on the satisfactory completion of such training if he or she immediately applies for admission to the training center and enrolls in the next available basic...