Idaho state troopers can arrest American Indians on highways where they cross reservation land without violating a tribe's sovereignty, according to a recent Idaho Court of Appeals opinion.

The case stems from the February 2007 drunken-driving arrest of Jake Beasley, a member of the Shoshone-Bannock tribes, on U.S. Interstate 15 on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation. Beasley was initially arrested by tribal officers, then turned over to Idaho State Police.

Beasley alleged the trooper violated protections against unreasonable search and seizure as well as tribal sovereignty because no extradition proceedings were initiated in tribal court. But the three-judge state Appeals panel ruled the ISP trooper's arrest was legal because the state and the Shoshone-Bannock tribes share jurisdiction over Interstate 15 on the reservation.