A couple of tribal members and a councilwoman, all part of a district suing a nonprofit corporation over a failed housing project in McLaughlin, S.D., said the tribal chairman abused his power when he called off a search for the corporation's founder.

Standing Rock Tribal Judge B.J. Jones ordered last month that Bismarck developer Gary Minard be detained in a tribal or county jail until he explains how his corporation spent $722,000 in loans to renovate housing. The detainment order ended last week when Standing Rock Tribal Chairman Charlie Murphy sent a letter to tribal law enforcement stating that there was "currently no basis for enforcing the order off the reservation."

Jones said he couldn't comment on the chairman's actions or the civil case because the case is ongoing.

Avis Little Eagle, a council member who represents the Bear Soldier District, said she believes Murphy called off the search to keep the corporation's financial records under wraps. She said she was "shell-shocked all day" when she heard about Murphy's letter. "I couldn't believe this was happening," Little Eagle said.

Murphy didn't return calls for comment. Among the reasons Murphy gave in his letter for calling off the search were questions about whether tribal court has the authority to detain or jail a non-Indian in a civil case.

Last month, a South Central District judge upheld the tribal court order to detain Minard, but on Wednesday the North Dakota Supreme Court found that the tribal court had not followed the correct procedures in filing its order with the district court and therefore the district lacked jurisdiction and could not enforce the tribal court order.

One of Minard's attorneys, Jeff Grell, said that the Supreme Court ruling did the same job as Murphy's letter: nullified the tribal court order to detain his client.

"Based on the Supreme Court's order, I can't see how the (Burleigh County) sheriff's department could enforce it," he said. "If the district court doesn't have jurisdiction, I don't see how the sheriff's department would either."

Little Eagle and district members Faith Taken Alive and Shirley Marvin said that the intervention by the tribal chairman was a "clear violation of separation of powers" and the letter was "pretty much not worth anything because the proper procedure was not followed." They said that the tribal council, tribal court and tribal chairman are separate entities, and Murphy should have petitioned the court to end the search.

"I find it utterly disgusting that he assumed the role of the judge," Taken Alive said. "I'm so utterly disgusted with Charlie Murphy because he took the law in his own hands. It's shameful what they have done to the community of Bear Soldier."

Marvin said an elders group made up of men and women from the Bear Soldier District met Sunday to discuss Murphy's letter. She said they plan to ask for the resignation of the chairman and three other Standing Rock officials.

"Charlie Murphy wasn't keeping in mind the needs of the people on the reservation," Marvin said. "He's trying to turn this reservation into a little dictatorship."

After receiving a copy of Murphy's letter last week, Burleigh County Sheriff Steve Berg said that they would no longer look for Minard. BIA officers in Fort Yates said they were unsure if they were searching for Minard or whether they'd detain him if they found him. The BIA in Aberdeen, S.D. didn't return a phone call for comment.

Jeff Sheets, attorney for the Bear Soldier District, said they never asked for the search, so calling it off didn't hurt their case.

"This isn't something we expected to start with," Sheets said. "We didn't expect it at all."

Sheets said there are other ways to get the financial records and they'll pursue those. He also said plans are to look at further litigation in state and federal court, but he was unwilling to elaborate.

The tribal court case centered around a renovation project that began in McLaughlin about four years ago. Minard set up a nonprofit North Dakota corporation called Bear Soldier Industries to renovate 54 homes, apartments and duplexes. The tribe co-signed $722,000 in loans and guaranteed $3 million in mortgages. Murphy signed the original property management agreement with Minard's corporation in February 2001.

A tribal jury found Bear Soldier Industries liable for the damages. The project left the tribe with $8.5 million in loans and mortgages. Minard was found in contempt of court when he didn't show up for court hearings.

Grell said the tribe never has been a party to the lawsuit and it was Sheets and a group of Bear Soldier District members who stopped renovation and opened the court case. He said if district members are truly concerned that some 50 housing units stand vacant in a reservation community where one of eight residents is homeless, they'd stand back and let the tribe and Minard finish.

"What they're doing isn't helping," he said.

Another of Minard's attorneys, Kent Morrow, was out of town and not available for comment. Minard also didn't return phone calls for comment.