SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) – The attorney for suspended Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Chairman Bruce Renville says Renville should be commended for trying to clean up rampant drug abuse on the Dakotas reservation – not taken to task for an act of courage.

The Tribal Council suspended Renville earlier this month for ordering a surprise mass drug testing of hundreds of tribal government employees, calling it a misuse of power. The council will hold a hearing Friday on whether to remove him from office.

Former South Dakota U.S. Attorney Brendan Johnson is representing Renville. He tells the Argus Leader newspaper that firing Renville would be a mistake.

Johnson says one of the reasons Renville was elected was to tackle the reservation’s drug problem. And he says Renville didn’t order the drug testing for personal gain.

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Information from: Argus Leader, http://www.argusleader.com