Appears that way.

The key issue is, if they don't hold a LE commission in that county -- and so far everyone has said they don't -- they have made a VERY BIG mistake and may be wide open to being held responsible in civil court.

Here's a summary of 'tribal immunity':

...the law of tribal sovereignty as it has developed in the federal courts and by federal statutes, executive orders and treaties over the last two centuries now rests on several fairly well-settled tenets: 1) tribes have virtually unlimited authority over internal tribal affairs; 2) tribes are subject to the plenary, or absolute, power that Congress has over them; 3) tribes are presumptively immune from state law; 4) tribes cannot be sued absent their express consent or a waiver of their immunity; and 5) tribal sovereign immunity does not extend to individual tribal members except to the extent that tribal officials act within the scope of their official capacities.