Source:

Cascade County [Montana] Sheriff Jesse Slaughter on Saturday broke up an investigation carried out in apparent coordination between federal and Canadian authorities at a Great Falls gun show, saying those agencies had not contacted his office beforehand.

Here’s the Sherriff’s Report.

Although state law does not require federal investigators to obtain approval from local law enforcement to conduct operations, the agents left the fairgrounds “reluctantly” and without issue. Slaughter has positioned himself as a “constitutional sheriff,” which theorizes sheriffs are the ultimate authority in their county — above local, state and federal officials — raising questions in this incident about possible friction between layers of law enforcement.

Theorizes? No, a Constitutional Sheriff is the highest law enforcement officer in the county. And that includes any invited or uninvited law enforcement from outside the county and local police departments.

According to the report, Slaughter questioned Howe on why his office wasn’t contacted about the investigation; Howe said he had made contact with city police. The fairgrounds however are under the county’s jurisdiction. Howe added the person they were investigating was an American who did not have a federal firearms license to sell guns, according to the report. Slaughter noted this was a different reason than that provided by the Canadian police officer.

Slaughter said he had several concerns after learning of the investigation underway at the fairgrounds, primarily a public safety concern that if the federal or Canadian authorities were to use force in any way, they might be mistaken as a citizen assaulting another citizen. Citizens, local law enforcement or the agents involved could have been injured “if something went awry,” he said.

The sheriff also said he has constitutional questions about the legality of the investigation.

Asked Thursday if drawing attention to the federal agents put those law enforcement officers in jeopardy, Slaughter said their police work outed themselves.

That’s funny.

“We don’t know they’re undercover,” Slaughter said. “We don’t know who they are, but we have them acting suspiciously.”

Slaughter said he expects next legislative session, which begins in January, to see passage of a bill that would require federal agencies to make contact with local law enforcement before launching an investigation on the ground. Such a law would further validate his stance as a “constitutional sheriff.”

Such proposals, known previously under the banner of “Sheriffs First,” have failed to pass muster in the state Legislature before. In 2011, a Republican state Senator from Thompson Falls introduced a bill that would have subjected federal agents to kidnapping or trespassing charges if they failed to obtain permission from the local sheriff to effectuate an investigation. Supporters said the legislation would prevent the bloodshed seen in episodes like the 1993 federal raid in Waco, Texas.

But state law enforcement officers and prosecutors called the measure unconstitutional, adding it would disrupt important federal operations and interagency cooperation of state, local and federal officials.

These proposed laws are an increment but remain weak because almost all local law enforcement submits to federal authority. We’d like to see a lot more of this but for the right reason: ‘get out of my county, you have no authority here,’ would be a good way to handle these situations. If state legislatures had any Tenth Amendment guts that also would help.