An Attorney General opinion has dealt a serious blow to a very critical "quality of life" issue in Burnett County.

According to this report in the Burnett County Sentinel...

Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said "the mutual aid statute does not apply to tribal law enforcement agencies operated by any of Wisconsin's 11 Native American tribes and bands."
What this decision means locally is that the St. Croix Tribal Police Department can't offer mutual aid assistance off-reservation.

"It's a safety issue for our officers," member Emmett Byrne pointed out. "If one of our deputies needs assistance and a tribal officer is closest but can't respond because of this ruling, our officer could be in jeopardy."

"One of our biggest concerns is we don't have a K-9 unit like the tribal P.D. does," Stacy Hopke pointed out. "We'd have to go to Polk County for the nearest unit."

Hopke was presenting the sheriff's report on behalf of Sheriff Dean Roland.

Committee member Gary Lundberg agreed.

"This decision handicaps the tribal police too," he said. "If they have an officer in Hertel, that officer can't go lights and sirens to an emergency in Danbury or Barron county until he is on tribal land."

"This puts us at a big disadvantage," Lundberg added. "We just lost 12 or 13 officers, not to mention all the equipment they have."

Lundberg said if there is any bright side to this situation, it's the fact the decision is being challenged.

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Sawyer County will be looking at changes to their sign ordinance in January. Of particular interest to Realtors® is language that regulates the size and location of For Sale signs. A meeting of Realtor® members and Zoning Administrator Bill Christman was held earlier this week. The Realtors® Association of Northwestern Wisconsin will be making their recommendations to the Zoning Committee at that January meeting.