LCO agrees to sign MOU on condition that Native Americans are counted in jail report

Recently it was announced at the October meetings of the Criminal Justice Coordinating County (CJCC) and Sawyer County Board of Supervisors that the Lac Court Oreilles (LCO) Band of Lake Chippewa Indians signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Sawyer County for one more year for $50,000 annual support of the operation of the CJCC, but it came with one condition: the tribal status of the jail inmates/residents must be noted on the Sawyer County Sheriff’s jail report given monthly at the Safety Committee meeting.

For years, the Sawyer County Sheriff’s Office had been reporting the percentage of jail residents who were Native Americans, and then Sheriff Doug Mrotek decided instead of reporting tribal status to report employment status.

Sawyer County Supervisor Tweed Shuman, a LCO Tribal Governing Board member, objected when the sheriff stopped reporting tribal status.

Sheriff Mrotek contended that employment status is much more relevant to the probable success of the resident outside incarceration, but tribal members have long argued that the tribal status reveals historically a higher percentage of the inmates who are tribal members raising concerns that the judicial system may be leveraged against tribal members.