Tribal court of appeals finds Leech Lake treasurer/secretary ineligible for candidacy

In a decision dated Wednesday, the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe’s Tribal Election Court of Appeals determined that Arthur “Archie” LaRose is ineligible to be a candidate for Leech Lake treasurer/secretary due to a 30-year-old felony conviction.

LaRose’s felony conviction in question was in 1992, but after a stay of imposition, his record reflects a misdemeanor offense as of 1995.

Another candidate for the secretary/treasurer seat on the tribal council, Lenny Fineday, challenged the Leech Lake Tribal Council’s Feb. 10 decision to certify LaRose’s candidacy.

“Mr. LaRose was ‘convicted’ of a felony in 1992,” wrote the five-judge panel from MCT.

“His criminal record now reflects that his felony conviction is now deemed a misdemeanor…. but that does not change the fact that Mr. LaRose was at one time convicted of a felony.”

The Minnesota Chippewa Tribe’s constitution makes any person who has ever been convicted of a felony ineligible to hold office.


Larissa Donovan is the News Director for the stations of Paul Bunyan Broadcasting and has been, almost without interruption, since Election Day 2016. She covers all the beats in north-central Minnesota, such as local government, crime, education, environment and social issues. She studied communications at Bemidji State University. You can follow along with Larissa's live tweets of meetings and events on Twitter!


© 2020 HBI Radio Bemidji, LLC d/b/a Paul Bunyan Broadcasting 502 Beltrami Ave NW, Bemidji, MN 56601 This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area