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STATE OF MINNESOTA IN SUPREME COURT A07-36 Court of Appeals State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. David Michael Davis, Appellant. ________________________ Filed: September 10, 2009 Office of Appellate Courts Gildea, J. Dissenting, Page, J.

Lori Swanson, Attorney General, St. Paul, Minnesota; and Janice S. Kolb, Mille Lacs County Attorney, Tara Ferguson Lopez, Assistant Mille Lacs County Attorney, Milaca, Minnesota, for respondent. Chris Allery, Anishinabe Legal Services, Cass Lake, Minnesota, for appellant. ________________________

SYLLABUS State court has subject-matter jurisdiction over appellants traffic violations because Congress has not preempted Minnesota from enforcing its traffic laws against appellant in state court. Affirmed.

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OPINION GILDEA, Justice. The State charged appellant, David Michael Davis, with speeding and failing to provide proof that he had insurance on his vehicle. Davis moved to dismiss the charges, arguing that the district court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction. The court held that it had subject-matter jurisdiction, and the Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed. Because we conclude that Congress has not preempted Minnesota from enforcing its traffic laws in state court under the circumstances presented here, we affirm. On December 3, 2005, Davis was driving on State Highway 169 in Mille Lacs County, Minnesota. Joshua Kimball, an officer with the Mille Lacs Tribal Police, was on patrol in the area and observed Davis traveling at a high rate of speed. Kimball used the radar equipment in his squad car to confirm that Davis was exceeding the speed limit by approximately 15 miles per hour. Kimball activated his emergency light, but Davis continued driving. Eventually, Davis stopped his vehicle on Ataage Drive in North Kathio, Minnesota. Davis argues, and we assume for purposes of this appeal, that the area where he stopped his vehicle is land held in trust by the United States for the Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa Indians. During the stop, Davis told Kimball that his vehicle was uninsured. Kimball also discovered that there was an outstanding warrant for Davis arrest for a previous failure

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to provide proof of insurance. Kimball arrested Davis on the warrant and issued Davis a ticket for speeding and driving without proof of insurance.1 The Minnesota Chippewa Tribe (MCT) is a federally recognized Indian tribe with six member bands, including the Leech Lake Band and the Mille Lacs Band. Davis is an American Indian registered with the Leech Lake Band. He is not a member of the Mille Lacs Band and does not reside on the Mille Lacs Reservation. At the district court, Davis argued that the court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction because he was an Indian who committed an offense in Indian Country--the Mille Lacs Reservation--and that therefore only the tribal court had jurisdiction. The district court denied Davis motion, holding that under State v. R.M.H., 617 N.W.2d 55 (Minn. 2000), the State has jurisdiction over traffic offenses committed on Indian reservations by nonmembers of the reservation. The court of appeals affirmed on the same grounds. State v. Davis, No. A07-36, 2008 WL 2726950 (Minn. App. July 15, 2008). We granted Davis petition for review. I. On appeal, Davis argues that the district court did not have jurisdiction, and that the United States Supreme Court implicitly overruled R.M.H. in United States v. Lara,
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State law provides authority for the Mille Lacs Tribal Police to act as peace officers with the "same powers as peace officers employed by local units of government." Minn. Stat.

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