$225M earmarked for Indian Country jails

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Karen Francis
Diné Bureau

CHINLE — Navajo Nation Public Safety Committee Chairman Rex Lee Jim, Rock Point, announced that $225 million for detention facilities in Indian Country was included as part of the economic stimulus package passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama.

Jails on the Navajo Nation have been in deplorable condition for years, and a lack of beds has been an ongoing problem, so it was understandable that Jim and Public Safety Committee member Raymond Joe, Tachee-Blue Gap/Whippoorwill, appeared exuberant about the news.

“We were being neglected all these years,” Joe said.

Now that the funds have been approved, the Navajo Nation must make sure that it gets its share of the funding.

The good news for Navajo is that language was included that P.L. 93-638 contracted programs would also receive some of the funds, Joe said.

Jim credited Division of Public Safety staff, in particular Delores Greyeyes of the Department of Corrections, for helping to get the funding.

“They do all the groundwork,” Jim said.

Jim said that the Navajo Nation will work based on a priority listing that has already been developed. First on the list is Tuba City, followed by Crownpoint and then Chinle, he said. Facilities for Shiprock, Window Rock, Dilkon and Kayenta round out the priority listing.

The Nation has been using the 1 percent sales tax designated for public safety and judicial facilities to make sure that projects are ready, he added.

Jim said that the committee will meet with the Judiciary Committee to talk about the one-stop shop approach that has been discussed. Such a design would not necessarily be one building but could be a complex, he said.

The amount of funding for detention facilities was reduced from $250 million to $225 million after negotiation sessions, but Jim and Joe were still pleased with the funding.

“We were there at just the right time,” Jim said.

He said that the Public Safety Committee delegation attended 28 different meetings on Capitol Hill — 11 of those with members of Congress.

“We lobbied hard — educating them about the issues, what’s going on in Indian Country, lack of jail bed spaces and the revolving door impact,” Jim said.

Public Safety Committee members also spoke about the effect the public safety issues have on the economy.

Members of the committee also include Benjamin Curley, Hope MacDonald LoneTree, Edmund Yazzie, Kee Yazzie Mann and Elmer P. Begay.