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S. HRG. 108–841

INDIAN JAILS: A CLARION CALL FOR REFORM

HEARING

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON FINANCE

UNITED STATES SENATE

ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS

SECOND SESSION

SEPTEMBER 21, 2004

(

Printed for the use of the Committee on Finance

COMMITTEE ON FINANCE

CHARLES E. GRASSLEY, Iowa, Chairman

ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah

DON NICKLES, Oklahoma

TRENT LOTT, Mississippi

OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, Maine

JON KYL, Arizona

CRAIG THOMAS, Wyoming

RICK SANTORUM, Pennsylvania

BILL FRIST, Tennessee

GORDON SMITH, Oregon

JIM BUNNING, Kentucky

MAX BAUCUS, Montana

JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West Virginia

TOM DASCHLE, South Dakota

JOHN BREAUX, Louisiana

KENT CONRAD, North Dakota

BOB GRAHAM, Florida

JAMES M. JEFFORDS (I), Vermont

JEFF BINGAMAN, New Mexico

JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts

BLANCHE L. LINCOLN, Arkansas

KOLAN DAVIS, Staff Director and Chief Counsel

RUSSELL SULLIVAN, Democratic Staff Director

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(III)

C O N T E N T S

OPENING STATEMENTS

Page

Grassley, Hon. Charles E., a U.S. Senator from Iowa, chairman, Committee

on Finance ............................................................................................................ 1

Baucus, Hon. Max, a U.S. Senator from Montana ................................................ 2

Smith, Hon. Gordon, a U.S. Senator from Oregon ................................................ 9

ADMINISTRATION WITNESSES

Devaney, Hon. Earl, Inspector General, Department of Interior, Washington,

DC .......................................................................................................................... 4

Anderson, David W., Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, Bureau of Indian

Affairs, Department of Interior, Washington, DC ............................................. 21

Henke, Tracy A., Deputy Associate Attorney General, Office of Justice Programs, Department of Justice, Washington, DC ............................................... 24

Lamar, Walter, Acting Director of Law Enforcement Services, Bureau of

Indian Affairs, Department of Interior, Washington, DC ................................. 29

PUBLIC WITNESSES

Sohappy, Corinna, Warm Springs, OR .................................................................. 17

Talks About, Hon. William, Jr., Chairman, Blackfeet Tribal Business Council,

Browning, MT ....................................................................................................... 26

ALPHABETICAL LISTING AND APPENDIX MATERIAL

Anderson, David W.:

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 21

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 39

Baucus, Hon. Max:

Opening statement ........................................................................................... 2

Devaney, Hon. Earl:

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 4

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 40

Final Report of the Office of Inspector General ............................................. 44

Grassley, Hon. Charles E.:

Opening statement ........................................................................................... 1

Henke, Tracy A.:

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 24

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 106

Lamar, Walter:

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 29

Smith, Hon. Gordon:

Opening statement ........................................................................................... 9

Sohappy, Corinna:

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 17

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 107

Talks About, Hon. William, Jr.:

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 26

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 109

COMMUNICATIONS

Navajo Nation....................................................................................................... 111–119

Fort Belknap Indian Community........................................................................ 120–126

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INDIAN JAILS:

A CLARION CALL FOR REFORM

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2004

U.S. SENATE,

COMMITTEE ON FINANCE,

Washington, DC.

The hearing was convened, pursuant to notice, at 10:05 a.m., in

room SD–215, Dirksen Senate Office building, Hon. Charles E.

Grassley (chairman of the committee) presiding.

Also present: Senators Thomas, Smith, Baucus, and Bingaman.

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. CHARLES E. GRASSLEY, A U.S.

SENATOR FROM IOWA, CHAIRMAN, COMMITTEE ON FINANCE

The CHAIRMAN. I will call the hearing to order.

I thank everybody for their patience, but more importantly, for

your interest in this very important subject.

This is a great day for Native Americans because of the opening

of the new museum. It is something they, and all Americans, ought

to be celebrating as we have this museum on the Mall devoted to

honoring American Indian culture.

Unfortunately, while it is a great day for many, it is not the case

for those in government, given the very important charge and responsibility of ensuring that prisoners in Indian country jails are

treated humanely.

If we did not know it already, recent events in Iraq have reminded us all that our country’s commitment to human rights and

to fair and proper treatment of individuals is measured, in part, by

how we treat those that are incarcerated.

Today’s report by the Inspector General of Interior, Earl

Devaney, is very troubling. To be honest, in over 20 years of conducting oversight, I can hardly recall a government report that has

been so hard-hitting and exposed such a level of government waste

and mismanagement. So, I commend you, Mr. Devaney, and not

only you, but your hardworking staff, for the efforts that you put

forth.

I think that the Inspector General has it exactly right when he

says that these jails are a national disgrace. The Inspector General

notes that the conditions are often worse than those in third world

countries. Once again, our government has failed to uphold its responsibilities to Native Americans.

And let me make it clear. Like so many problems that I have

done oversight on over the years, this is not a problem of just this

administration or just the previous administration. This is a probVerDate 11-MAY-2000 16:32 Jun 16, 2005 Jkt 095484 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 21032.000 SFINANC2 PsN: SFINANC2
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lem of an entrenched bureaucracy that just is not getting the job

done. So, we need to look at new ways to solve this problem.

Let me close by saying that, just as it took great determination

and a great deal of hard work, and even great resolve by American

Natives to bring us this great new museum on the Mall, it will

take a similar, if not greater, effort by our Federal Government to

end this national disgrace.

I now call upon Senator Baucus.

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. MAX BAUCUS,

A U.S. SENATOR FROM MONTANA

Senator BAUCUS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I very much appreciate your calling this hearing. It is very important. I am a bit embarrassed, frankly, as a public servant, that this issue has not been

addressed earlier. But better late than never. We are here, and

hopefully we can get something done about it.

I think it is important to recall that the Bible tells us that God

created man in his own image. That account teaches that every

person reflects a little bit of the divine spark. It teaches that we

owe at least a basic amount of respect to all human beings, no matter who they are, because of their humanity.

This April, we saw another image of man. The searing photos

from Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq involved every one of us, because

they showed us what can happen when people with power lose that

basic respect for other people’s humanity. That is what happened

in prisoner abuse.

Today, we hear reports of mistreatment of American prisoners

right here in the United States. And while no one has alleged deliberate abuse—not yet—the deplorable conditions that the Inspector General documents also reflect a loss of that basic respect for

prisoners’ humanity.

The Inspector General’s report paints a dismal picture of many

prisons on Indian reservations: facilities housing scores of inmates

where there is often never more than one person on staff at a time;

juveniles killing themselves because no one supervised them; and

at the Blackfeet prison in Montana, every single officer has been

assaulted in the past year, every one, in 1 year.

Some facilities have inadequate plumbing. Sewage floods the

jails. Many facilities have no kitchens. Many have no medical

units. Some prisons do not even have adequate locks; conditions,

clearly, totally unacceptable. We cannot fight for human rights

abroad if we fail to protect them at home. In these facilities, we

have failed.

Today we will hear about problems, and we will also be looking

for solutions. The Inspector General will chronicle years of neglect

by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. That neglect must end.

The report will make important recommendations. The Bureau

should implement them immediately. What are they? One is, the

Bureau of Indian Affairs must develop reporting protocols to identify serious incidents and problems with facilities that require immediate assistance. The BIA has not done that. It must begin immediately.

The Bureau must establish clear channels of accountability. They

have not done that, incredibly. The Bureau must improve staffing

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immediately to avert further tragedies like those chronicled in the

report.

Finally, the recommendation of the Inspector General is that the

Bureau must make major improvements in detention facility standards, and also within their policies, their maintenance, their health

care, social services, personnel training, and hiring practices.

Mr. Chairman, as you know, I have been working on a proposal

to help address some of the inadequate financing on Indian reservations, particularly with respect to tribes. One way to address

this is to give tribes the authority to issue tax credit bonds for the

construction, maintenance, and operation of their detention facilities.

These bonds give off tax credits rather than interest to their investors, allowing tribes with little resources to earn interest off the

proceeds. This interest can provide a steady stream of income designed to maintain and staff the jails.

Mr. Chairman, you will hear from various people today. We will

hear from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. I especially want to hear

from them to see how they can explain the gross incompetence. I

hope that they will offer concrete steps that can be taken to identify these problems.

I must say, Mr. Chairman, I am not terribly sanguine about that.

We have been dealing with the Bureau for many, many years. I

know I have. I have been very disappointed with the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

I, frankly, sometimes think it is an agency that perhaps should

be abolished. They do such a poor job, and have for so many years.

It is another level of middle management. It is not needed, in my

judgment, and I think they cause many more problems than they

solve.

We will also hear from the Department of Justice. The Department of Justice is responsible for making budget requests for the

funding of Indian jail construction, and I am eager to hear what

they have to say.

Finally, we will hear from two witnesses who have been personally touched by this crisis. It is my honor to introduce William

Talks About, Jr., who is chairman of the Blackfeet Business Council from my home State of Montana.

Chairman Talks About is a good friend, and I am proud to have

him here as a witness. I know that the Bureau of Indian Affairsrun facility on the Blackfeet reservation is one of the worst facilities in the country.

I look forward, Mr. Chairman, to hearing your thoughts on how

this situation can be improved, and what steps we in Congress

need to take in order to make these conditions much better.

Ms. Sohappy, I am deeply sorry for your loss. We are holding

these hearings today and plan to introduce our legislation in order

to prevent the type of tragedy that you have had to endure. The

committee and the country owe you a terrific debt, a debt for all

you have gone through, for coming here today and telling us your

story. Thank you.

We in government cannot fix every problem. But ensuring the

basic human dignity of Americans is perhaps one of our most solemn responsibilities. Today and in the years ahead, let us rise to

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that duty. Let us do what we can to ensure that every person receives at least the basic amount of respect that we owe to every

human being, every one of them created in the image of God.

Mr. Chairman, before I end, I want to just quote a statement

from the Inspector General’s report to give us a flavor of the depth

of the problem. Let me just quote from the report.

‘‘Early in our assessment it became abundantly clear that some

facilities we visited were egregiously unsafe, unsanitary, and a hazard to both inmates and staff alike. BIA’s detention program is riddled with problems and, in our opinion, is a national disgrace.’’

Let me repeat that. The Inspector General report is saying that,

in their opinion, ‘‘the BIA detention program is riddled with problems, and,’’ in their opinion, ‘‘is a national disgrace, a national disgrace with many facilities having conditions comparable to those

found in third world countries.’’

Further on, the report goes on to read, ‘‘Despite these audits, despite inspections, despite reports and other warnings about the

woeful conditions of the detention program, BIA has failed utterly

to remedy the problems.

Whether it lacks the organizational will or infrastructure, or

both, BIA cannot sustain its focus on the problems at its detention

facilities long enough to resolve them. Absent relentless pressure

and the unflagging support of senior BIA management, we fear it

is unlikely to do so in the future.

Mr. Chairman, we have got a problem here. The Bureau of Indian Affairs has a problem, a big problem. It is deplorable, what

they have allowed to happen, and I would just strongly encourage

all of us to finally begin to do something here to address the conditions that we all find so deplorable.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The CHAIRMAN. Well, I thank you for your strong statement.

I now have the pleasure of welcoming a person I have already

referred to, the Inspector General of the Department of the Interior, Earl Devaney. In January of 2003, he appeared before our

committee on the issue of border security, so we welcome him back.

I would ask my colleagues to be cognizant of the fact that he

needs a little more time than normal to present his case, so it will

be a while before we will be asking questions.

I would ask the Inspector General to proceed, please.

STATEMENT OF HON. EARL DEVANEY, INSPECTOR GENERAL,

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, WASHINGTON, DC

Mr. DEVANEY. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I

want to thank you for the opportunity this morning to come before

you to talk about our report concerning Indian detention facilities.

Mr. Chairman, with your permission, what I would like to do is

submit my full statement and final report for the record and make

a few oral remarks as we proceed.

The CHAIRMAN. Yes. It is received.

[The prepared statement and final report of Mr. Devaney appear

in the appendix.]

Mr. DEVANEY. I would like to then show a short video which supplements our report, if you would concur.

The CHAIRMAN. Sure. Proceed.

5

Mr. DEVANEY. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, as part of the ongoing effort of my office to examine law enforcement and security programs within the Department

of Interior, we began our assessment of BIA’s detention program in

September of 2003.

At the risk of repeating remarks already made by Senator Baucus, I think it is important to maybe reiterate some of your remarks, sir.

At the very outset of our investigation, we did find that the facilities we were visiting were very unsafe, unsanitary, and a hazard

both to the inmates and to the staff, alike.

We found BIA’s detention program riddled with problems and, in

our estimation, it is a national disgrace. Many facilities have conditions comparable to those that you would find in the third world.

Our final report found clear evidence of a continuing crisis of inaction, indifference, and mismanagement, and without the relentless pressure and unflagging support, in my opinion, by the Secretary and other senior department managers, I fear, little will

change.

In April of this year, I briefed the Secretary and our senior staff

about the serious problems we had found up until that time. In

June, I issued an interim report, and also testified before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs to further highlight the egregious

conditions we were uncovering.

Yesterday, I delivered my final report and its 25 recommendations to the Secretary. To her credit, Secretary Norton immediately

responded to both my briefing and interim report by directing senior department and BIA managers to take ownership of these problems and to implement concrete reforms.

She also promptly requested the assistance of the Bureau of Prisons, which resulted in a senior-level professional being detailed to

the Department to assist BIA.

Unfortunately, as we continued our assessment of the detention

program, our work uncovered a plethora of additional problems.

Sadly, while BIA has now produced a strategic plan, no real

progress has been made to make the detention facilities safer or

more secure. For instance, just since August 1, there have been two

new deaths, at least five more suicide attempts, and an alarming

16 new escapes from Indian country jails.

Since 2000, the detention program has been coordinated by a single detention program manager working out of the central office of

Bureau of Indian Affairs Law Enforcement. Unfortunately, this

manager was provided with limited training, virtually no staff, and

minimal authority to accomplish his duties.

Six BIA district commanders are responsible for managing the

jails on a day-to-day basis in the field. We found the oversight of

these district commanders to be virtually non-existent. In fact, several commanders had never even visited some of the jails under

their oversight.

The Department’s Office of Law Enforcement Services is responsible for overseeing all of the Department’s law enforcement and

security programs, including BIA’s. However, we found no evidence

that they have ever provided any oversight for BIA’s detention program.

6

Based on our visits, we learned that serious incidents are almost

never communicated up the chain of command. In fact, in just the

27 jails we visited, we discovered over 875 serious incidents, including 11 deaths, 236 suicide attempts, and 631 escapes. Ninety-eight

percent of these incidents were never even reported to BIA Law

Enforcement.

Thus, our anxiety is high, not only because of what we found

during the visits to the 27 jails, but because of what we fear remains undiscovered at the 45 jails we did not visit.

I will note here that, among the deaths which were reported to

BIA, was the death of Cindy Gilbert, a 16-year-old student who

died while in a detention cell at the Chemawa Indian Boarding

School in Oregon. This case has been under active investigation by

my office since her death, and we have just recently referred the

case to the Department of Justice.

I am pleased to see that Ms. Gilbert’s aunt has traveled from Oregon to speak to you today about this horrible tragedy.

Based on our findings, suicide attempts appear to be a regular

occurrence at many of these facilities. Mr. Chairman, when I testified before the Committee on Indian Affairs, I spoke about my personal visit to the Yakima Jail and the extraordinarily high rate of

suicides at that facility.

Just 2 days after my testimony, an inmate at Yakima hanged

himself from a broken light fixture. Despite assurances to the contrary, BIA, inexplicably, did not inspect the conditions at this jail

until just last week.

For the most part, the correctional offices at these facilities convey stories of prisoners’ escapes with an air of casual inevitability.

We found that some facilities do not even notify local law enforcement when a prisoner escapes. It is simply irresponsible to allow

escaped prisoners to travel freely in a community while local law

enforcement authorities have no information about their escapes.

Maintenance shortcomings can have a direct impact on officer

and inmate safety, yet there is little indication that any emphasis

is placed on expediting repairs. For example, we found sprinkler

systems inoperable, keys so worn that they cannot lock or unlock

the jail cell doors, and a camera in a high-risk cell facing the ceiling.

Mr. Chairman, in the last 4 years, Congress has given BIA $637

million for law enforcement. In addition, since 1999, BIA has also

received supplemental funding totaling $31.5 million, specifically

designated for hiring detention officers and for preparing new detention facilities for operation.

BIA, however, was unable to produce any annual budget submissions for the detention program when we asked for them. In addition, we discovered that funds allocated to individual jails are not

even tracked. BIA’s failure to make an effort to assess the true cost

of jail operations or to have any internal controls becomes, in effect,

a self-fulfilling prophecy.

These fiscal management failures also impact new detention facilities built with funds awarded as grants by the Department of

Justice. Since 1997, DOJ has provided over $150 million in construction grants for new detention facilities.

7

However, these grants are only for the construction of the facility. BIA is then responsible for providing funding for operational

costs.

Given the poor budget planning and execution by BIA, we were

not surprised to learn that the facilities built with DOJ grant monies often do not get the necessary funding to actually open for business.

We have many other concerns, including, but not limited to, a

lack of training for staff, horrible over-crowding at some of the

jails, the practice of housing juveniles with adults, no workable or

practical jail policies or procedures, and the exposure of the program to unthinkable liabilities.

Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, to be fair, I feel

I should indicate to you that BIA law enforcement officials have

made some recent management and staffing changes at various

levels within the detention program which are a positive development.

A strategic task management plan with assigned personnel has

been proffered and they are beginning to seek assistance from outside professional corrections organizations. A process to ensure that

maintenance issues are promptly communicated has been implemented.

Finally, Mr. Chairman, the responsibilities for the conditions and

failings we found at Indian country detention facilities cannot be

attributed to any particular individual or to any particular administration.

Some of these problems are decades old. Thus, the solutions will

not be easy to achieve and may take considerable time, effort, and

additional funding. Although a task management plan for improving detention facilities is admirable, absent strong leadership, tireless management, and extensive hard work, plans alone will not do

anything to correct the many failings chronicled here.

As we say in our final report, nothing less than a Herculean effort to turn these conditions around would be morally acceptable.

Mr. Chairman, this concludes my oral remarks and I would now

like to show the committee our video.

The CHAIRMAN. Yes. Proceed with the video.

[Whereupon, a videotape was played.]

Indian reservations, covering some 56 million acres in 35 States, are home to 1.5

million American Indians and Alaska Natives who are members of 562 federally recognized Indian tribes.

Their link to the Federal Government is BIA, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, whose

programs include law enforcement and detention services provided by LES, the Office of Law Enforcement Services.

Law Enforcement Services operates 17 detention facilities. It also provides funding and oversight to 46 detention facilities operated under contract by the tribes.

In one of those jails on the Yakima Reservation in Washington State, on June 25,

2004, an inmate committed suicide under conditions that dramatically illustrate

BIA’s failure to remedy long-recognized deplorable conditions.

In staffing, no dedicated detention officer was assigned to monitor the jail’s inmates. In safety and security, an over-burdened police dispatcher was required to

add jail monitoring, which should be a full-time job, to her other duties.

In training, the inmate was able to take his own life because a common bucket

had been carelessly left in his cell. In maintenance and repair, a broken light fixture

that had gone unrepaired for months was the mechanism that made the suicide possible.

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The sad irony of this episode? It occurred one month after the Inspector General

of the Department of Interior and a team of investigators visited the Yakima Jail,

and 2 days after the Inspector General testified before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs about the deplorable conditions of the detention centers.

The Office of Inspector General’s report, ‘‘Neither Safe Nor Secure: An Assessment

of Indian Detention Facilities,’’ says this: ‘‘BIA has failed to provide safe and secure

detention facilities throughout Indian country.’’

Our assessment revealed a long history of neglect and apathy on the part of BIA

officials which has resulted in serious safety, security, and maintenance deficiencies

at the majority of the facilities.

The OIG report is based on the work of investigators who conducted site visits

at 27 detention facilities in Indian country. They observed routine operations at

each jail, reviewed detention and budget records, conducted interviews with BIA

and tribal officials, and with local and Federal detention professionals.

Again and again, detention officers at the inspected sites conveyed stories of serious, dangerous incidents with an air of casual inevitability. Sadly, the recent

Yakima suicide was not a singular episode.

The final report states: ‘‘We discovered there have been 11 fatalities, 236 attempted suicides, and 631 escapes in Indian country jails over the last 3 years.’’

We believe these numbers to be conservative, given that 98 percent of these incidents have never been reported to BIA LES. One jail administrator confirmed our

concerns that incidents were under-reported when he stated, ‘‘What happens on the

reservation stays on the reservation.’’

The result of this attitude? Public awareness has been deflected from these physically run down, deplorably maintained facilities that offer ample opportunity for escape.

An example. At this jail, a recreation guard gate was held together and locked

by handcuffs because inmates had learned the combination to the cipher lock.

Even more disturbing than the circumstances and frequency of inmate escapes is

the lack of response and poor recordkeeping by detention officers and facility administrators alike. Talking about a juvenile escape incident, one administrator simply

stated, ‘‘We haven’t seen him since.’’

The frequency and number of serious incidents, deaths, suicide attempts, inmate

assaults and escapes, are indicators of a detention system in crisis, struggling to

maintain effective day-to-day operations.

Another contributing factor? Staffing. Overall, investigators found that, on a regular basis, 79 percent of the facilities fell below minimum staffing levels.

According to the report: ‘‘Inadequate staffing greatly increases the potential for

BIA liability when injuries, deaths, or escapes happen. We believe there is a direct

correlation between insufficient staff and the number of serious incidents and escapes that occur at Indian country jails.’’

OIG investigators found that, in many facilities, detention officers had collateral

duties which pulled their attention away from security issues. Astoundingly, some

jails were found to have shifts with no detention officers on duty at all.

OIG investigators discovered numerous unsafe situations that increased the risk

to detention personnel and inmates. At the Mescalara Jail, a lone female officer was

confronted at knife-point by a former inmate, who entered the facility through an

unlocked door. The officer locked herself into a detention cell. A trustee convinced

the intruder to leave the officer alone. Another inmate summoned the police.

Clearly, detention officers should not be forced to place their personal security,

even survival, in the hands of inmates during a crisis, assault, or for any other reason.

The problem of inadequate staffing is compounded by over-crowding. For example,

this jail has a rated capacity of 34, but routinely holds more than 110 inmates. Consequently, more than half the inmates must sleep on cell floor mats, increasing the

potential for altercations as inmates step over and move around other inmates in

the cramped space.

Another critical area addressed in the final report is training. Utilization of untrained or poorly trained personnel places inmates and officers at great risk, and

obviously raises concern about the overall safety and security of many of the detention facilities.

Another assessment criterion used by investigators was facility maintenance and

repair. The report states, ‘‘We found the condition of the majority of the jails we

visited to be abysmal, the result of years of neglect and failure to perform even routine repairs in a timely manner.’’

Responsibility for maintenance and repair of BIA-owned detention facilities is the

domain of the Office of Facility Maintenance and Construction, OFMC, which operates independently of BIA’s Law Enforcement Services.

9

Consequently, jail administrators have no direct authority over local maintenance

personnel, and therefore no authority to prioritize maintenance and repair work at

their facilities.

Investigators found that many maintenance shortcomings have a direct influence

on officer and inmate safety, yet there is little indication that OFMC or detention

personnel place much emphasis on expediting repairs that affect detention officer

or inmate safety.

An example. In several jails, virtually all the Plexiglass was scratched, burned,

or damaged to the point that it was extremely difficult, if not impossible, for detention officers to see inside the cells to monitor inmates.

Closely related to maintenance and repair, budget and funding issues were closely

scrutinized by auditors and investigators during the review process. The final report

had this to say: ‘‘We found that detention program funding is haphazardly managed

by BIA and, once distributed to the tribes, it becomes virtually unaccounted for. BIA

could produce little evidence of basic budget planning, budget execution, or budgetary control.’’

According to an April, 2004 Department of Justice status report, construction of

13 new jails was to have been completed. Today, only two of those completed jails

are actually open and occupied. Nine remain unoccupied due to staffing shortfalls.

The final report goes on to say this: ‘‘This overall neglect of detention program

funding oversight has created an environment in which fraud can be perpetrated

with impunity and waste can continue undiscovered because nobody at BIA is paying attention.’’

To improve Indian country jails, BIA managers face a range of tough challenges

as they develop a plan to correct deficiencies documented by the OIG assessment.

Perhaps the most significant will be to overcome the frustration, cynicism, and apathy expressed by many detention personnel.

This vicious cycle of apathy and substandard performance can lead to nothing but

worse conditions in the future and greater risk today.

Among BIA’s obligations to Indian country is the management of detention facilities and the assurance of their safety and security. The OIG assessment across the

board? This is not presently the case. There is no safety where rampant mismanagement and neglect prevail.

There is no security where frustration, apathy, and cynicism are the norm. The

assurance of a safe, secure environment requires attention, not just increased funding. It requires action, not just planning. Safety and security can be assured. The

time is now.

[Videotape ends.]

Mr. DEVANEY. Mr. Chairman, I would be glad to answer any

questions now.

The CHAIRMAN. Yes. I have been asked by Senator Smith, because he has to go, if he could make a short statement. I will do

the same for other colleagues if you are under time constraints.

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. GORDON SMITH,

A U.S. SENATOR FROM OREGON

Senator SMITH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Senator Baucus. It is

a very important hearing you have called. I do appreciate your letting me intervene in this hearing at this point to give a special welcome to Corinna Sohappy, who is from my State, and the Warm

Springs Indian reservation. Her family suffered a terrible tragedy

last year with the loss of Cindy Sohappy at the Chemawa Indian

School in my State.

It is not easy to make a public issue out of a private tragedy, but

I want Corinna to know that good will come of this and that your

courage will result in Congress doing more.

I thank the Inspector General for being here. I know, twice, he

has been at hearings where I have been present, and is very mindful of this terrible, even tragic, oversight. I think you, Corinna, are

helping us to lay the foundation for a much-needed improvement.

10

I do want to also take note that, in addition to the circumstances

that resulted in this young life being lost, Cindy’s life specifically,

there is an epidemic of suicide in detention facilities on reservations. This is an issue which touches me very much in a personal

way. The Congress has done something about this very recently. It

has done it in a way that tribes are included, both with the authority and the appropriations that will flow from it.

So I encourage the tribes, as we meet here in Washington, DC

to open this beautiful new museum, to focus on this piece of the

puzzle, and that is lowering the rates and eliminating, if possible,

the rates of suicides on the Indian reservations and other places,

specifically in detention facilities, because there are few things

more tragic than a life that is ended in such a way.

So, I thank you, Mr. Chairman, for letting me say these things,

and to welcome you, Corinna, and thank you for your participation.

I also want to acknowledge Assistant Secretary David Anderson,

who is scheduled to testify here today. He recently was in Oregon

and he showed great compassion, was very inspiring and uplifting

to the people there, and I want him to know that we are mindful

of his efforts and appreciate his very positive message about overcoming drug and alcohol abuse among our tribal youth, and frankly

among all our youth.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you.

Did either one of my other colleagues want to, because of time

constraints, participate now? Otherwise, we will go immediately to

questions and take 5-minute turns.

[No response.]

The CHAIRMAN. I take it from your testimony that you are not

impressed with the coordination between the Interior Department

and the Department of Justice. So my question is, what needs to

happen before those of us in Congress consider giving more money

to building jails in Indian country?

Mr. DEVANEY. Well, you are right, Mr. Chairman. I am not impressed with that coordination. I think when DOJ started awarding

grants, I believe it was in 1997, the Department of Interior simply

stopped prioritizing where they thought jails should go. Today,

there is very little evidence of any collaboration between the two

departments.

The most common thing we heard during our travels was that

new jails are built where they have the best grant writers as opposed to where they are really, truly needed.

The film, and I think the report—and I will say it again—talks

about 13 new jails having been constructed, and only 2 are actually

open today for business. Nine have not been opened because of

staffing reasons.

As I said earlier, the DOJ grants only provide money for the construction, and then BIA is supposed to come in with the monies for

staffing and for the operations of the jail. That simply is not happening, and there is no coordination there.

As I mentioned earlier, there was $35 million in supplemental

funding for this very thing. We spent a year, and only could find

11 percent of that money. The rest of it is unaccounted for.

11

The CHAIRMAN. Obviously, we have had it pointed out by you, by

Senator Baucus, and by Senator Smith thus far about how alarming the number of suicide attempts are.

Do you have a view of why this is happening in Indian jails? I

assume it is happening in Indian jails more than other jails, generally, right?

Mr. DEVANEY. I think suicide is a problem in all jails, but in Indian jails, just in the jails we visited, it seems to be rampant. I

think there is a strong nexus between, at the intake stage when

a prisoner comes in intoxicated, with no medical screening and no

special concerns about watching that inmate to make sure that

that inmate either does not commit suicide or just simply dies from

asphyxiation, is very tragic.

There just does not seem to be, as you might find in a county,

State, or Federal jail, an effort made to treat an intoxicated inmate, or an inmate that might be on drugs in a special way when

they are brought into the facility. Most of these suicides that we

looked at involved intoxicated inmates.

The CHAIRMAN. Is there any way you can quantify the problem

in the Indian jails compared to the rate of deaths in other Federal

detention facilities?

Mr. DEVANEY. Well, it is very hard to get a grip on the number

of attempted suicides in Indian country because, as I mentioned, 98

percent of the things that we found had never been reported to

BIA, and we only visited 27 of the 72 jails. My suspicion is that

this is a far greater problem than we are reporting on today, and

the gravity of it is really astounding.

The CHAIRMAN. Senator Baucus?

Senator BAUCUS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, General. You are doing great work. It is not easy

being an Inspector General. That is not the most popular job in the

world, and, frankly, good government depends very much upon you

and other IGs doing very good, solid work.

I, and I know I speak for the committee and the rest of us in

Congress, and I know a lot of American people, thank you for being

so solid and independent. Your integrity is unquestioned. We deeply appreciate your efforts in bringing these tragedies to light.

I have several questions. As you know, some jails are not run directly by BIA, but through Section 638 contract authority. And you,

in your report, say that those jails tend to be better managed. Why

is that?

Mr. DEVANEY. I am not sure, but that was the observation. We

visited 27 jails; 10 of those were run by BIA, and 17 were run by

the 638 tribes. We found the ones run by the tribes generally to

be better managed, better maintained, and more likely to have

some of the best practices we found out there.

Those best practices would include sort of in-service training

being done at Hono Odum, youth counseling and educational opportunities for youth at Hila River, and a dollar-saving experience

using modular facilities at Nasquale. So, there are best practices

out there, and where we found them, they tended to be in the 638

facilities.

Senator BAUCUS. Why, do you suppose, though? What is your

best guess?

12

Mr. DEVANEY. I think that the tribes obviously care about something that is in their immediate proximity and want to do right by

their people, and BIA is at a distance. I am sure that that plays

a role.

Senator BAUCUS. Would you tend to encourage tribes, if they find

the resources and the personnel, to run their own prisons?

Mr. DEVANEY. Based on what I have seen, I think they are as

capable of it, or more capable of it, than BIA is today. Yes.

Senator BAUCUS. What is your basic recommendation? Let us say

the tribes were to come to you and say, Mr. Devaney, you have

studied this. What is the solution here?

Mr. DEVANEY. Well, I think that I would say that money is not

the only answer. My suspicion is, you might hear from some of the

other witnesses today that more money is the solution to this problem.

I think it is a part of the solution, but there has to be a commitment on the part of both BIA and the tribes, and the will to take

care of some of these things that do not necessarily need money.

Putting internal controls on the existing money, for instance, before this Congress decides to give them any more money, I think

would be a very good idea.

Senator BAUCUS. Do you know whether the BIA has asked? I

think money is part of the solution, but not the entire solution. Has

the BIA made an earnest request for more funds?

Mr. DEVANEY. Well, I do not think they have. I think our report

chronicles the fact that the BIA’s Law Enforcement program, which

runs detention facilities, simply used historical figures for their

funding requests for the following year and never really asked for,

or set out to find out how much money was actually needed from

the jail administrators so they could ask for additional funding

from Congress. It is simply a matter, they never asked for it. Now,

if they were to decide today, of course, we are 2 years behind in

terms of budget years.

Senator BAUCUS. What about internal controls? Are you aware of

any effort to try to institute any?

Mr. DEVANEY. Well, I am alarmed by the fact that we spent a year trying to find where that $35 million went, and only were able

to account for 11 percent of it. The idea that the money is given

out to the jails and then not tracked is a prescription for, as the

video said, fraud, waste, and abuse.

Senator BAUCUS. But are you aware of any effort to try to get

a handle on the trends?

Mr. DEVANEY. No. No, I’m not.

Senator BAUCUS. And why do you suppose there has been no effort thus far?

Mr. DEVANEY. I have not been able to figure that out, Senator.

Senator BAUCUS. Your best guess.

Mr. DEVANEY. My best guess is that it is going to take some

focus by the Assistant Secretary and his senior leadership to put

in place the right people in the finance shop in BIA, which is, quite

frankly, not there now.

We find this same phenomenon when we do our CFO audits

every year. BIA always has trouble accounting for the monies given

to it.

13

Senator BAUCUS. It is a huge problem and cannot be entirely

solved immediately. What are some of the first steps that come to

mind to you that could be taken here?

Mr. DEVANEY. Well, the first steps were to try to get a grip on

some of the serious issues. Not that maintenance and money is not

serious, but escapes into a community without notification to law

enforcement, the high rate of suicide attempts, actual suicides,

deaths, get a grip on that.

We have made some recommendations, both in our interim report and in our final report, that specifically address those things.

And then other things like training policies, procedures, maintenance, those are things that can come after that. But at the end

of the day, it is going to take a whole amount of will and focus that

is not there, or has not been there in the past.

I am not willing to judge the current will, because I think the

Secretary has certainly expressed to me her desire to implement

change.

But I am worried that, when the spotlight shifts off of this program or this problem, we will be adrift again. There have been

countless other studies that have found some of the things that we

have talked about today, and nothing has changed.

Senator BAUCUS. And when you brought those studies to the attention of BIA and others, what was their response?

Mr. DEVANEY. We remember that and we are working on it, and

we have a plan. But I am looking for action. It is one thing to have

the plan. It is quite another to actually implement the plan.

Senator BAUCUS. Well, that is exactly right. Mr. Chairman, I am

going to suggest, at the appropriate time, that we ask the BIA to

come back to us with steps and benchmarks, and steps at a time,

and that kind of thing.

My personal view is, if we do not do that, as the Inspector General says, not a lot is going to happen when the spotlight tends to

be focused elsewhere. I have been dealing with this general kind

of problem for years, and that is just my personal opinion. We are

going to have to have some very definite benchmarks here reported

back to us at specific dates.

The CHAIRMAN. Do you propose that in a private meeting or in

a committee?

Senator BAUCUS. Well, let us discuss that.

The CHAIRMAN. All right.

Senator BAUCUS. But I think something along these lines is necessary.

The CHAIRMAN. Senator Thomas, then Senator Bingaman.

Senator THOMAS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you for being here. I want to talk a little, pretty much like

the Senator from Montana, in terms of process. I do not think there

is any argument that there is a need here. The question is, how

do we get there? What is the role of the Inspector General?

Mr. DEVANEY. The role of the Inspector General is primarily one

of oversight of the Department and the programs within the Department.

Senator THOMAS. This is not a new issue.

Mr. DEVANEY. No, this is not a new issue. We did an audit, as

differentiated from this assessment, I think back in 1994, where we

14

found similar problems in the financial accountability, and made a

number of recommendations which seemingly have not been implemented.

GAO did an audit more recently and found that the maintenance

system that BIA has is riddled with problems, and made recommendations. I am not so sure those issues have been addressed,

either.

Senator THOMAS. I guess that is part of the problem. I mean, if

you are going to do these things, how do you implement them? Why

did it take so long to do this?

Mr. DEVANEY. Yes. I reject the notion that it is simply a matter

of money. I think it is a matter of will and focus by the senior managers to ensure that these recommendations made, whether it is

my office, GAO, or anybody else, that these things get done. I think

it would be a good idea for both the Secretary and the Congress

to check back in on occasion and make sure that is happening.

Senator THOMAS. I would think so, too, as a matter of fact.

Generally, what is the role between BIA and the tribes in terms

of actually managing these? Is that a choice the tribes can make,

or how is that done?

Mr. DEVANEY. Well, as I mentioned, there are really three types

of jails. There are those jails that are run exclusively by BIA, there

are those jails that are run by the tribes through the grant process,

and there are some other jails—I think about nine—that are actually owned and operated by the tribes without the grant process

being involved.

BIA’s role is one of funding in terms of operations and staffing,

and one of oversight. But when I go to a jail, like I did, and ask

the head person at the jail, when was the last time you saw somebody from BIA, and they say they have not been here in 5 years,

I am concerned about the fulfillment of that oversight role. Obviously, there has not been any.

So in terms of ensuring that the jails are safe and secure, that

is a BIA role. It can be done a couple of different ways. I would

suggest that the way to do it is in consultation with the tribes, providing guidance and help to the tribes as opposed to some dictatorial kind of mode. But, as we sit here today, I do not think it is

being done in any mode.

Senator THOMAS. Well, running a jail is not a mysterious thing.

There are jails all over the country, and it is not a brand-new idea.

We do not have to depend on BIA to do it, I would think. I mean,

the tribes are there. Tribes have leadership roles. They have operating governments. What is the best way to do this?

Mr. DEVANEY. Well, there are enormous challenges in terms of

staffing and competence of staffing in this area. Some of these jails

are in really remote areas and it is very tough, for instance, to recruit and have people move into those areas. They are low-paying

jobs, especially at the officer level.

But we did find some wonderful sort of best practices in one jail.

We found a non-Native American jail administrator who had been

brought in from the outside by the tribe who had extensive correctional background in State jails, I believe.

He told us that he thought his mission was to prepare the Native

American staff that he had to take over that role when he left and

15

retired. We thought that was terrific, and we have urged the program to look at that one example as a way of maybe addressing

some of the other jails.

Senator THOMAS. Thank you.

The CHAIRMAN. Senator Bingaman?

Senator BINGAMAN. Thank you very much.

Senator Baucus was asking about possible first steps. In the case

of State prisons and local jails, one of the ways that corrective action is forced in those institutions is when the Federal courts step

in and issue an injunction that says, if you cannot maintain prisoners in a safe and secure manner, you cannot maintain prisoners

in this facility.

Why does the Secretary of Interior not issue a directive to all of

the facilities that you found to be not safe and secure, or at least

saying they cannot take additional inmates into those facilities, but

possibly even saying they cannot maintain any inmates in those facilities until they demonstrate that they can do so in a safe and secure manner?

Mr. DEVANEY. Well, Senator, I would think that the immediate

problem would be where to house the prisoners that are coming

through the system right now. The truth of the matter is, all of

these jails are over-crowded. All of these tribes need new jails, or

will need new jails, soon.

New jails and new staffing can be very helpful. We found a jail,

for instance, which was terribly over-crowded, had four correctional

officers, I believe, and, because of the over-crowding and the lack

of officers, has been in a virtual lock-down for 24/7 for over a year.

Sitting down the street is a brand-new jail that cannot be

opened. How do they get the 64 corrections officers out there in this

remote area to open this jail? That is the kind of thing I think you

need to start thinking about when you decide to put the jail there,

not after the jail has been built and you suddenly realize you do

not have the staff to run it.

I am all for the tough approach I think you are advocating here,

but I would worry about the sudden turning off of the ability for

tribal courts and the reservations not to have any place to house

these people.

Senator BINGAMAN. Well, I agree that it does put the heat on the

tribal courts and the tribes and the BIA to issue an order to them,

and perhaps they should be given 90 days in which to take corrective action or close the facility, or take whatever other action is appropriate.

But it seems irresponsible, to me, for the Secretary of Interior to

know what you just related to us and to see that video that you

just played for us and to think that this is a problem we can resolve over the next several years.

It strikes me that, when you have an instance—you talk here

about a juvenile being raped in a particular facility. The juvenile

was being held for social services and was being raped in this facility.

Why would it be in the Secretary’s interests, or anyone else’s interests to allow other juveniles to be put in that facility? Should

that not be prohibited? Should any juveniles currently held there

not be ordered to be released?

16

Mr. DEVANEY. I think we found a lot of instances where juveniles

were being held with adults, and to BIA’s credit, they did immediately, at the point of my interim report, order that no more juveniles could be housed in adult facilities. My understanding is that

is no longer happening, but it is the kind of thing that has to happen.

Senator BINGAMAN. So it is your understanding that at the current time, in any of these facilities that you are talking about here,

there are no juveniles being housed with adults?

Mr. DEVANEY. Well, the order has been given that that not happen. Absent being out there, actually making sure it has not, I

would be reluctant to say it is not. But at least the direction has

been given, and we have anecdotal evidence that that is happening.

Senator BINGAMAN. Your testimony concentrates most on the

BIA and the failures of the BIA, and I understand that. You say

the Justice Department has provided $150 million in grants to

build facilities.

Is there not some responsibility on the part of the Justice Department to follow that funding to be sure it is, in fact, being used

in an appropriate way? You say we have got all sorts of facilities

sitting empty that have been constructed. Where is the Justice Department audit, or Inspector General, or whatever oversight the

Justice Department ought to be exercising?

Mr. DEVANEY. Well, I think you make a good point, Senator. I

do intend to speak to the DOJ Inspector General about this issue.

He and I have collaborated a little bit in the beginning of our assessment to be in a position for me to forward to him some of these

issues, so I will be doing that.

Senator BINGAMAN. This strategic plan that you refer to, is there

a single person who has been identified by the Secretary of Interior

to actually implement the strategic plan, and is there a budget that

has been developed as part of an implementation plan for the strategic plan, as far as you know?

Mr. DEVANEY. Senator, I would defer those questions to the Assistant Secretary, who is going to follow me. My understanding is,

a team has put together the plan. My assumption is that is the

same team that is going to try to implement it, but please ask that

of the Assistant Secretary. He would know more about that.

Senator BINGAMAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much.

I asked Senator Baucus if he had any other questions. We do not

have questions to ask right now, but you might think in terms of

members who cannot be here that might submit questions for answer in writing, and we would appreciate your cooperation in regard to that.

So unless you have anything in closing, we will bring on the second panel.

Mr. DEVANEY. Thank you, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. All right. Thank you, General.

It is now my pleasure to welcome Ms. Corinna Sohappy. Ms.

Sohappy is the legal guardian to a young woman who died while

being detained in a detention facility in Chemawa School in Salem,

Oregon.

17

We thank you for your testimony. You can proceed any way you

want to, but if you have longer testimony, we would be glad to

have the entire testimony printed in the record, and then any summary you want to give, or if you just want to read from your testimony, that is all right, too.

So would you proceed, now?

STATEMENT OF CORINNA SOHAPPY, WARM SPRINGS, OR

Ms. SOHAPPY. In the words of my people, ne-hik-mike-ski, which

means good morning, I greet you.

Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, my name is

Corinna Sohappy. I am here this morning to talk about the death

of my niece, Cindy Gilbert Sohappy, in a jail operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

First, I would like to tell you about Cindy. Cindy was 16 years

old when she passed away. She was tall, beautiful, popular. She

was a smart young lady. She was not afraid to go off on her own

and to take a chance. Unfortunately, she was born into a very chaotic family environment. Cindy’s mother was plagued with a variety of personal issues.

I was given legal custody of Cindy by the court in August of

2003, after her mother was placed in an alcohol treatment program

in California.

Cindy attended the Chemawa Indian School in Salem, Oregon.

Although it was more than a 3-hour drive from our home in Warm

Springs, Chemawa offered her many more educational opportunities than our local high school. Cindy was doing very well at

Chemawa and had many big dreams about what she wanted to do

with her life.

At the time of her death, she was only two credits short of becoming the first person in her family to graduate from high school.

She planned to go to college after graduation. She was learning to

drum and to sing.

She also jingle-dress danced, a tradition in our tribe that you

may know of as a ‘‘pow-wow.’’ She dreamed of traveling, and she

hoped that by joining the Army or the Marines someday, that she

would have that opportunity.

Given the unstable environment in which Cindy grew up and the

many challenges that she had faced, our family took great pride in

Cindy’s success.

On the evening of December 6, 2003, after attending our local

Christmas lights parade, I received a message that changed my

family forever. I was told to call Chemawa because Cindy was not

breathing.

When I called them, I was told that they lost her. I asked, ‘‘What

do you mean? Did she get up and walk away?’’ They told me that

she had passed away. I asked if they were sure it was Cindy. Excuse me.

The CHAIRMAN. Take your time.

Ms. SOHAPPY. The man told me that he knew Cindy, and that

was her. I was devastated. I dropped the phone. My cousin was

with me. She picked up the phone and was told that the FBI and

the Oregon State Police wanted to know what to do with Cindy’s

body. I asked them to leave it where it was until I got there.

18

We left immediately and we arrived at Chemawa around 6 in the

morning. A security guard escorted us to what looked like a facilities or a maintenance shack located well from the school building.

As we entered the building, we walked through a small office

that looked like a booking room. As the daughter of a patrolman,

a police dispatcher, and the tribal chief judge, I had grown up

around a jail and I know what a booking room looks like.

As we continued, we entered the jail. There were four cells, all

made of cement blocks with heavy steel doors on each of them. We

continued walking to the last cell where Cindy was lying on the

floor.

The cell was about 4 or 5 feet wide and about 10 feet long. There

was a mattress lying near the door with blood spattered on the

mattress. Cindy was lying on her back with her right hand extended upward. She had blood around her nose, her mouth, and on

her shirt.

The staff could not explain to me why she was bleeding. I tried

to move her arm to rest it across her chest, but she was already

cold and her arm was very stiff. Throughout her life, Cindy had

rarely gotten herself into trouble.

We were told that on this evening, however, Cindy had been provided with alcohol by an older friend and was caught drinking near

the school. She was placed in the cell to sober up at about 8:15 p.m.

When the staff next checked on her nearly 3 hours later, she was

not breathing. We were told that she had stopped breathing because of the amount of alcohol in her body.

My nephew, who also attended Chemawa at the time, had followed Cindy to the jail that evening to make sure that the staff

gave her the supervision that she needed. He had seen how intoxicated she was and warned the jail staff that it was not safe to

leave her alone.

My nephew told me that, while Cindy was being carried to the

cell, since she was too drunk to walk on her own, that the jail staff

made jokes about her. Until that morning, I did not know that this

dreadful jail even existed at Chemawa.

I have since learned about many prior incidences in which high

school students had been locked up with poor supervision. My

youngest brother, who also attended Chemawa for a time, told me

that he was once locked in this jail without supervision, after

drinking, nearly 20 years ago.

Other relatives of Chemawa students told me about the annual

homecoming celebration at the school last year, when as many as

92 students had been locked into these four small cells at one time.

This is a dreadful tragedy that simply did not have to happen.

If the staff at Chemawa had provided even the least amount of supervision in the jail, Cindy would be with us today.

The loss of Cindy has left my family in a fragile state. I worry

about the effects of her death on my parents and on Cindy’s two

young siblings, who I care for.

I would like to thank the committee for considering this important issue. It is my sincere hope that, by coming to Washington

this morning and by sharing Cindy’s story with you, that no one

else will have to die unnecessarily.

19

[The prepared statement of Ms. Sohappy appears in the appendix.]

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much. Obviously, you have our

sympathies. I have just one question, but it is not really a question,

it is more an opportunity for you to tell us of other instances of like

situations that maybe you would not have been familiar with except for the circumstances of your niece’s death, and your then getting contacts from other people, so it gives us a chance to broaden

the record if you would tell us of some other instances you have

heard, and why they were overlooked for so long.

Ms. SOHAPPY. During the funeral services of my niece, it was a

devastating time. Chemawa bussed about 30 students to the funeral in Warm Springs, which is about a 3-hour ride.

During that time, several students came up to me and told me

that they had also been locked up in these cells and left for long

periods of time without supervision. They were just locked in there

and then never checked on for hours on end. I do not recall their

names, because there were so many of them.

Even after my brother graduated from Chemawa, in about 1984,

from that time, he and his friends were also locked in these same

cells without supervision, just locked in there and left without

being checked on for periods of time.

The CHAIRMAN. So then what you just related to us was instances involving the single facility, not other places around the

country or close by.

Ms. SOHAPPY. Yes. This was just at Chemawa.

The CHAIRMAN. Yes. All right.

Senator Baucus?

Senator BAUCUS. Ms. Sohappy, we extend our deepest sympathies to you. You have gone through a lot, clearly. You are very

courageous in coming here and sharing your experiences with us.

As far as I am concerned, your trip is not in vain. Your presence

here has a searing impact on all of us.

It is our responsibility and our duty to follow up and do our very

best to assure that incidents like this do not reoccur. There is always some chance that things sometimes happen, but these circumstances you have had to deal with, life there on the reservation, and other descriptions we have heard, certainly indicate that

we have a lot to do.

As I had mentioned earlier, I think if we had set some deadlines—the fancy term is benchmarks—or some standards and so

forth, that perhaps we could address the problem very, very aggressively and very effectively.

But the main point I want to make is, as far as I am concerned,

your trip is not at all in vain. You have made a real difference

here, and we are going to spend a good bit of time trying to figure

out how to solve it, and by gosh, we will solve it. Not totally, probably, but certainly it will go a long, long way. Thank you very

much.

Ms. SOHAPPY. Thank you.

The CHAIRMAN. Senator Bingaman?

Senator BINGAMAN. Thank you. I join the others in thanking you

for coming.

20

This tragedy occurred last December, as I understand it, December 6?

Ms. SOHAPPY. Yes.

Senator BINGAMAN. Since then, are you aware of any action by

the BIA or the Secretary of Interior to prevent other juveniles from

being incarcerated in this same facility?

Ms. SOHAPPY. Yes. They removed the doors a couple of days after

the death and locked up the facility, so that the only person that

has a key to that building is a BIA law enforcement officer.

Senator BINGAMAN. So at the current time, there are no inmates

in the facility?

Ms. SOHAPPY. No. No. According to newspaper articles, they send

them to either IHS, which they have right there on the Chemawa

campus, or to one of the medical facilities in Salem.

Senator BINGAMAN. So, before they were incarcerating people

who were intoxicated in this detention facility. Now they are sending them to the Indian Health Service.

Ms. SOHAPPY. Yes.

Senator BINGAMAN. And presumably they have some kind of facility for helping them or detaining them. Is that right?

Ms. SOHAPPY. Yes. Yes.

Senator BINGAMAN. All right.

Ms. SOHAPPY. They send them to IHS for a medical evaluation

to see their level of intoxication, and the same with the hospital.

I am not sure what their process is after they are evaluated, if they

are kept at the hospital. I am not sure what they do after.

Senator BINGAMAN. All right. Thank you very much. Thank you,

Mr. Chairman.

The CHAIRMAN. Ms. Sohappy, we do not have any more oral

questions now. You may get some questions in writing from people

on the committee who could not be here. If you do and you have

never been involved in answering, my staff would help you do that

by telephone, whatever the case might be.

Ms. SOHAPPY. All right.

The CHAIRMAN. So, we will be glad to help you if that happens.

It may not happen, but if it does, it would be just answering questions like you have for us orally.

Ms. SOHAPPY. All right.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much for your testimony.

I will call the third panel. Mr. David Anderson, Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs at the Bureau of Indian Affairs; Tracy

Henke, Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General, Department

of Justice; and Mr. William Talks About, Jr., the chairman of the

Blackfeet Tribal Business Council, Browning, Montana.

Then, finally, I would like to note that Mr. Robert Ecoffey,

former director of Law Enforcement Services, had planned to be

with us this morning, but unfortunately he was out of time. But

we have Mr. Lamar, Acting Director of Law Enforcement Services

at the BIA available for questions, but would not be making testimony. That is my understanding.

Mr. Lamar, is that your understanding, just to be available for

questions, or did you have a statement that you were going to

make, too?

Mr. LAMAR. I will be available for questions.

21

The CHAIRMAN. All right.

We are going to go in the order that I introduced you: Mr. Anderson, Ms. Henke, and then Mr. William Talks About, Jr.

Then anybody who has got people with them that they want to

introduce for consult, let our Recorder know who those people are.

Mr. Anderson, we will start with you.

STATEMENT OF DAVID W. ANDERSON, ASSISTANT SECRETARY,

INDIAN AFFAIRS, BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, WASHINGTON, DC; ACCOMPANIED

BY MR. WALTER LAMAR, ACTING DIRECTOR OF LAW ENFORCEMENT SERVICES, BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, WASHINGTON, DC

Mr. ANDERSON. Thank you, and good morning, Mr. Chairman

and members of this committee. I would like to maybe first break

from my statement to begin with, and I will be submitting a full

statement for the record.

I would like to just address some of the things that I have heard

earlier that are not in my testimony. I was very taken by Senator

Baucus’ comments. I think it is for those reasons that I want to explain the reason why I am here this morning.

I have been on board only since February of this year. When I

was first asked by the White House to consider the Assistant Secretary’s role, I was not interested. All of my life I have avoided any

involvement in the political affairs of my tribe, although I have

been involved with Indian development.

But as a young person, I had always felt that my calling was in

the areas of business. I have had a number of very successful businesses throughout my lifetime. It was because of that that the

White House insisted that I reconsider being able to come on board

as Assistant Secretary.

I think part of that was, they realized that, throughout my lifetime, I have overcome much adversity, hardships, and challenges

in my own life. I have been sober 91⁄2 years. By all rights, I probably should be in one of those detention centers myself.

But I believe, because of this great country that we live in, that

it does not matter what you have been through. It does not matter

where you have come from. The important thing that matters is

that all of us, especially us as America’s first people, have an opportunity.

With the success that I have realized in my career, one of the

things I have done was to give back to my community and working

with Native youth. I have created a foundation that works with the

leadership and life skills of our Native youth.

I believe that is one of the major reasons why I was asked to look

into this position. In fact, my work has been recognized not only

here, but also in Canada, and most recently, last year, on ‘‘Oprah

Winfrey.’’

The reason I say these things, is because I take very seriously

my role. I take very seriously the guidance that was given to me

when I first came on board by the Inspector General, Mr. Devaney.

So, I just wanted to be able to set that frame of mind, because

I have been very frustrated myself since I have been on board. I

was warned by many people when I told them that I was considVerDate 11-MAY-2000 16:32 Jun 16, 2005 Jkt 095484 PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 21032.000 SFINANC2 PsN: SFINANC2
22

ering accepting this position as Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs. They said that this is probably one of the toughest, most

challenging jobs in Washington, DC.

But the reason why I am here today is because I do care. I have

lived through those tough times. I have experienced those hardships. I am here because people need to step up and accept responsibility to make that difference.

So, this morning I share Mr. Devaney’s concerns. I share the portrayal that many of our jail cells are like third world developing

countries. I will also share with you that this is only one area that

I am faced with. Our housing programs are much like third world

developing programs.

We are faced with one of the highest unemployment rates found

anywhere, 50 to 80 percent on some of these reservations. We have

the highest suicide rate. We have been hearing today how suicides

are high in the jails.

Well, as Indian people, we have, out of any people group, a suicide rate that is greater than any people group in the United

States. We have the highest drop-out rate. Many of our people drop

out of school by their second year in high school.

I think all of the committee knows that we also experience probably some of the highest substance abuse found anywhere in the

country, including much of my own people and my own tribe.

I also agree that we have had a problem in the budget process

within the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In the past, the way the budgets were held is that pots of money were sent to the regions and

then that was distributed out.

When I first came to the Bureau in February, there was almost

this mustiness, a historic, archaic mustiness about that whole department. I have realized, and quickly realized, that business as

usual is not how we are going to go forward.

We have been in the process of developing budgeting. We have

been in the process of updating our technology. I think everybody

within Indian country recognizes that the technology that we have

had available to us was not adequate to be able to provide the type

of recordkeeping necessary.

This year, for the first time in history, we have been able to have

our archival center be able to hold our records. For the first time,

we have been able to electronically inventory that. So, this year,

much has happened.

We are reviewing our accounting procedures. In fact, I met with

OMB yesterday and I was told that, probably for the first time,

they have seen significant progress in the way we are handling our

accounting.

I believe this is another reason why I am here today, because I

have been part of three publicly traded companies on Wall Street,

been very familiar with the fiduciary responsibility in providing

true and accurate accounting.

We have a long ways to go, but under my watch, accountability

has been a key component. However, we have been faced with an

enormous task of bringing up to date our accounting procedures,

not just in the accounting procedures themselves, but providing the

technology and the equipment that spreads throughout Indian

country. We have a lot of work to do.

23

But I will also share with you that, since coming on board, as

Mr. Earl Devaney has indicated, Secretary Gail Norton and senior

administration have been very concerned about this. From what I

understand, probably for the first time in a long time, senior administration staff has actually looked into what is happening within law enforcement.

So, I want to just make sure about some of the things we have

heard today, and, again, in the Inspector’s report he says it’s no

one person and no one administration—what we are hearing is

really failed policies by the whole Federal Government for a long

time.

So, since coming on board, and when I had first been made

aware of this, I sent a clear message out into the field that it was

not going to be business as usual. My success in business is in the

restaurant industry. The health, safety and welfare of our customers is of the highest importance. I sent that message out. Since

then, we have done a lot of work.

Have we been able to solve a lot of what we are dealing with?

No, we have not. But this will give you an idea. This document

here represents an incredible amount of work that we have compiled about some of the things that need to be fixed within our detention centers.

When I was first made aware of Mr. Devaney’s concerns, within

24 hours I had assembled a team to start working on this. By the

end of the week, we had mobilized over 100 people to begin our

own investigative process. In the past, we had only $1.4 million for repairs and maintenance, and I was able to go, within our budgeting process, and we

were able to find an additional $5 million to start immediately in

taking care of some of the repairs and maintenance that we could

take care of right away.

So, I just wanted to set the tone, that it is not business as usual,

that I and my staff have taken a tremendous amount of concern

about this problem.

I would also like to share that there is very aggressive talk about

what has taken place. I understand that. But I also want to make

sure you know that people like Mr. Lamar and some of the staff

that we have within the Bureau are very hard-working people. I

hope that we also recognize, even though we have been understaffed, that we just do not paint a portrayal that these are all inefficient or bad people.

The reason why they are there, and many of them working

through weekends or working longer hours, is because we do have

Indian people who care. So, I want to make sure we acknowledge

the people within our staff for the hard work that they have done.

Since February when I first found out, many of these fine people

within our law enforcement offices have been working throughout

the weekend, working long hours. We set up a war room within the

Department of Interior where we have actually started looking at

all of our policies and procedures.

Within the first several months, we took immediate and corrective action. We have been able to take almost 40 percent of the

work that needed to be done and completed it. We still have a long

ways to go. Within our own investigations, we do concur with the

24

Inspector General’s report. It has been a very eye-opening experience for me.

Like I said, the reason why I am here today is because I do care.

It would be very easy for me to go back to the private sector, but

that is not the answer. We need to stick to this, we need to address

it, and we need to be able to take care of these matters.

I would also like to say that, when we had heard about this unfortunate tragedy at the Chemawa School, that immediate action

was taken there, too. Today, we do not have any juvenile holding

cells within any of our Indian schools. We also implemented immediate policies where what happened there would no longer happen

again.

Now, any youth that is suspected of inebriation, they are immediately taken to a hospital or Indian Health clinic where they are

monitored, and they are not released unless they have a doctor’s

signature. Then once they are brought back to the school, they are

held under 24-hour watch until they are capable of going back. So,

we have taken immediate steps in many of these instances.

Also, we are no longer holding youth in any jail cells with any

adult inmates. So, I wanted to make those comments. I believe it

was important to let the committee know where I come from, the

reason why I am here, and that I take these things very seriously.

It is not business as usual at the Bureau of Indian Affairs. We do

have a long way to go.

So, I would like to start my testimony. I would like to thank you

for inviting me to speak today on the conditions——

The CHAIRMAN. Can I ask you, before you start your testimony,

your testimony is going to be included in the record as a whole. So

can you summarize it? We have got three more witnesses, and Senator Baucus has to be downtown at a certain time. Is it possible?

Quite frankly, I thought you were going to include your testimony

in the record, and then you gave your oral testimony just now.

Mr. ANDERSON. Yes. All right.

The CHAIRMAN. All right.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Anderson appears in the appendix.]

The CHAIRMAN. Ms. Henke?

STATEMENT OF TRACY A. HENKE, DEPUTY ASSOCIATE ATTORNEY GENERAL, OFFICE OF JUSTICE PROGRAMS, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, WASHINGTON, DC

Ms. HENKE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Senator Baucus. If I can

ask that my entire statement be submitted to the record, and if I

can also correct the record. I currently serve as the Deputy Associate Attorney General for the U.S. Department of Justice, not the

Principal Deputy.

The CHAIRMAN. We will correct the record.

Senator BAUCUS. But they were giving you a promotion.

Ms. HENKE. I did get a promotion, sir. Thank you. I think. I am

not one hundred percent certain some days.

Today, as you are probably well aware, there are 33 States that

contain approximately 300 Indian land areas, or reservations. Jurisdiction over crimes in Indian country depends on several factors,

25

including the identity of the victim and the offender, the severity

of the crime, and where the crime was committed.

There are two groups of Indian offenders who may be in Federal

custody. First, there are prisoners who have committed an offense

under Federal law. Often, these offenses fall under 18 U.S.C. Section 1152 and Section 1153. Section 1153 is known as the Major

Crimes Act, and Section 1152 is known as the Indian Country

Crimes Act.

Offenders in this category are under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Prisons and are not in Indian tribal facilities.

The second group are prisoners who have committed offenses

under tribal law. Indian prisoners in this group are under the jurisdiction of the tribe whose law has been violated.

As part of their inherent sovereignty, Indian tribes have jurisdiction to prosecute all crimes committed under tribal law by Indians

in Indian country. These prisoners are generally in facilities operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs or the tribal government.

The Department of Justice’s involvement with Indian country detention facilities is generally limited to our Correctional Facilities

on Tribal Lands Program. This program provides funds to American Indian and Alaska Native tribes to construct correctional facilities on tribal lands for the incarceration of offenders subject to

tribal jurisdiction.

Specifically, the Department of Justice has administered tribal

correctional facility grants totaling approximately $60 million since

fiscal year 2001. It is important to understand that these grants

are statutorily limited to brick and mortar construction costs only.

Grantees are responsible for fully supporting, operating, and

maintaining these correctional facilities. Since the inception and

funding of the program, the Department of Justice has provided

funding to 23 tribes for jail construction.

Of these 23 facilities, 8 facilities are exclusively juvenile, 12 are

combined adult/juvenile, and three are exclusively adult. All 23

tribes are actively implementing design or construction initiatives.

Some add beds to existing facilities, but most involve new construction.

In addition to the Correctional Facilities on Tribal Lands Program, the Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics compiles statistics relating to detention facilities in Indian country. In November of 2003, the BJS published ‘‘Jails in Indian Country, 2002,’’ the

most recent survey of adult and juvenile detention centers in Indian country.

Data for the bulletin was obtained by a mailed questionnaire,

and accompanied by phone calls and faxes. In total, 68 of the facilities in Indian country responded. For the committee’s review, copies of the bulletin, as well as the questionnaire that was sent to

the facilities, have been provided.

It is important to note that, while the BJS bulletin contains statistical information about Indian detention facilities, it does not

gather information regarding condition in the jails.

As the administration, through the Bureau of Indian Affairs,

works to improve Indian detention facilities, the Department of

Justice will continue to assist, as we are able.

26

Most recently, an experienced administrator from the Department’s Bureau of Prisons was detailed to the Bureau of Indian Affairs to assist in the development of strategies to improve the delivery of detention services in Indian country. The Department of Justice looks forward to this opportunity to work with the Department

of Interior to address this issue.

Mr. Chairman, Senator Baucus, Attorney General Ashcroft has

pledged to honor our Federal trust responsibility and to work with

sovereign Indian nations on a government-to-government basis.

The Attorney General and the entire Justice Department will

honor this commitment and continue to assist tribal justice systems

in their effort to promote safe communities.

We also recognize, however, that the most effective solutions to

the problems facing tribes comes from the tribes themselves, and

that our role is to help them develop and implement their own law

enforcement, detention, and criminal justice strategies.

Thank you for the opportunity to be here. I welcome the opportunity to answer any questions you might have.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you.

[The prepared statement of Ms. Henke appears in the appendix.]

The CHAIRMAN. Now, Chairman William Talks About.

Senator BAUCUS. Mr. Chairman, I would like to just say a word,

if I could, about our next witness.

The CHAIRMAN. Please do that.

Senator BAUCUS. Mr. Talks About is the chairman of the Business Council of the Blackfeet Indian nation. He is a solid, wonderful guy, and I am very glad that he is here to help us out. Thank

you.

Mr. TALKS ABOUT. Thank you.

STATEMENT OF HON. WILLIAM TALKS ABOUT, JR., CHAIRMAN,

BLACKFEET TRIBAL BUSINESS COUNCIL, BROWNING, MT

Mr. TALKS ABOUT. Oki. This word is a word of greeting spoken

in our tongue, the Blackfeet language. So we greet all our friends

this way.

Oki, Chairman Grassley, Senator Baucus, and members of the

Senate Finance Committee. My name is William Allen Talks

About, a full-blood member of the Blackfeet tribe of Indians of the

State of Montana.

I am pleased to have been invited to present testimony on behalf

of my tribe before this honorable committee. I am the chairman of

our tribal council, which consists of nine council members who are

the representative government of the members of our tribe, the

Blackfeet tribe.

Today, I have two members with me that are a part of this testimony, so I want to introduce Mr. Fred Guardipee, who sits on the

Law and Order Committee, and our Congressional assessment officer, Shannon Augare, who had set this meeting up for us, and we

are very thankful.

Our council is in full agreement about the relevance of this issue,

and they have empowered me to speak on their behalf, and that

of our membership.

The Blackfeet Indian reservation borders Canada and Glacier

National Park. Our reservation consists of 1.5 million acres. The

27

enrolled population is approximately 15,500 members, of which

over 8,000-plus reside on the Blackfeet reservation. The reservation

makes up most of Glacier County and a small portion of Ponderay

County.

As public safety becomes a greater issue everywhere, detention

and correctional facilities have become a greater concern for the

Blackfeet tribe. The Blackfeet tribe has seen a dramatic inmate

population growth, operational and management changes, and an

increase in the special needs population.

With your permission, if I can use the distinction of non-Indian

jails, meaning other jails in America versus Indian jails, with those

jails on Indian reservations. Then through studied perception, we

will see that there is a distinct contrast between Indian and nonIndian jails.

That is, the non-Indian jails are built properly and have adequate staffing and funding, staffing and funding from tax monies.

The need for new correction and detention facilities is preeminent

on the Blackfeet reservation.

The conditions relative to the Blackfeet community jail are immense and intense. The conditions are typical and are a good example of Indian jails across the Nation.

It is a simple analogy that if one jail in Indian country is the

only jail that needs to be corrected, then the answer would be to

fix that one jail. But if there is a continuous pattern of deplorable

conditions, as exists across the Nation in Indian jails, then reform

needs to take place.

Just as much that there is a sense of urgency to reform the system of incarceration on Indian reservations by the Federal Government, then the same sense of urgency is felt by those actively involved in the law and order on Indian reservations and the people

that are affected.

Across the board and throughout the hallmarks of justice, this

committee will hear of the nature of those conditions in Indian jails

that will add credence that reform is needed.

In 1970, the Blackfeet tribal jail was constructed and was condemned shortly thereafter because of a bad sewer system. It is approximately 9,197 square feet and has 12 cells. To date, it is still

a condemned facility. Renovation took place, but it was a Band-Aid

effect, and gradually moved back to the current situation of being

bad, and a blight.

The jail has a very small recreation area that is only accessible

in the summer months. The building is constructed out of brick, so

in the summer months, it is up to 20 degrees hotter inside the facility. Further, the plumbing in the cells only works sometimes.

Many inmates have sentences longer than 30 days.

Our current juvenile detention facility was originally built for the

youth as a safe haven. Eventually, it was turned into a correctional

facility and has been eroding because of the material it was built

out of. Today, we have had many inspections by the BIA, the Federal Government, State, and tribal agencies that require renovations.

What can we do together to address the issue of jail reform? My

suggestions would be to build a larger adult detention facility to acVerDate 11-MAY-2000 16:32 Jun 16, 2005 Jkt 095484 PO 00000 Frm 00031 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 21032.000 SFINANC2 PsN: SFINANC2
28

commodate more prisoners in a safe and sanitary environment. The

capacity for the 34-year-old jail is 45 total, men and women.

Currently, the over-crowding of prisoners presents a threat to the

health and welfare of the incarcerated individuals. At times there

have been as many as 110 total men and women incarcerated at

the Blackfeet jail.

My suggestion would also be to build a larger juvenile detention

facility to accommodate more prisoners in a safe and sanitary environment. The current capacity for the juveniles is 5 females and 9

males, and two safety cells, which adds additionally two incarcerated juveniles, for a total of 16, maximum.

Upon certain celebrations, holidays, and occasions, our detention

facility has had as many as 35 incarcerated at one time, which is

twice the building capacity.

I suggest that we promote that the tribal court and the Northern

Police Training Center be built with our adult and juvenile detention facility to create stability and integrity to the Blackfeet nation.

Without the tribal court and law enforcement collaborating closely

together, our law and order will not be, and is currently not, balanced.

Within the new structure we will have the added floor space for

the rehabilitation that is currently lacking in both the adult and

juvenile facilities, which is the counseling offices and the outdoor

recreation.

I suggest that the Police Training Center would not only be for

our Blackfeet members, but for all the northern tribes that do not

have the financial ability to continue to send their members to Albuquerque, New Mexico.

With this, I would like to thank you for your time, Senators. I,

and our people, are eager and anxious to work toward this great

effort.

Additional written testimony is added to this oral testimony.

The CHAIRMAN. Of course, we will receive that additional testimony.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Talks About appears in the appendix.]

The CHAIRMAN. I am going to take 5 minutes for questioning.

First, a friendly admonition for Secretary Anderson. That is

something I would probably give to other people in addition to just

you. I will gladly accept what you said, that you want to end ‘‘business as usual,’’ and I hope you can do that.

You will find yourself faced with awful efforts to maintain the

status quo from the bureaucracy that has been there 20 years before you, and will be there 20 years after you.

You have got to remember that you are either going to run the

show or the show is going to run you. You have got to realize that

there are going to be people, when you try to make changes, that

are going to try to destroy you.

So I am sure that, with what you have done in business and

what you have done to overcome the personal issues that you have

brought before us, that you are strong to do that. But do not be

naive about the battle that you are up against.

29

My first question is to you, Mr. Anderson. What have you done

to look at new ideas, such as regional jail concepts, or maybe even

privatizing Indian jails?

Mr. ANDERSON. Currently, we are taking a look at the whole system itself. We have actually set up what was like a war room within the Department, and we started bringing in some of our talented

people from within our system, as well as reaching out to Mr.

Janis, at the Federal Bureau of Prisons, to take a look at what we

were doing. All of those things are under consideration.

I would also like to defer some of these questions to Mr. Lamar,

who we brought in, who has been working diligently on these

issues.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Lamar?

Mr. LAMAR. Good morning, Mr. Chairman, Senator Baucus. If I

might further introduce myself, I am Walter Lamar. I came to the

Bureau of Indian Affairs, where I have been appointed as the Acting Director for the Law Enforcement program.

I came to the Bureau of Indian Affairs with 18 years with the

Federal Bureau of Investigation as a special agent. I am a member

of the Blackfeet tribe of Montana.

We are currently looking at and exploring the regionalization

concept, and we have contracted out a study to determine if that

is, in fact, feasible for Indian country.

Senator BAUCUS. I am sorry. You are doing what?

Mr. LAMAR. The question was whether we are exploring regionalization.

Senator BAUCUS. Thank you.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much.

Mr. Anderson, obviously, too often people say more money is an

answer to a terrible situation. I do not want to deny you that as

a legitimate answer, but I would like to have some idea about how

you intend to address the suicide rate and the escapes from these

jails.

Mr. ANDERSON. Like I said earlier, I think suicides, in general,

are higher than anywhere in the country with our Indian people.

We have taken a closer look at the system itself, the practices within the jails.

One of the things that we have recognized, is that we need training programs. Just training, in general, is missing within our Bureau system, whether you are in law enforcement, education, or

other areas within the Department. Training has not been the best

there is.

When I came on board, I personally asked what training programs were available, and I was told, none. The only training programs that we have within the Department are GPRA and PART,

more policies and regulations. So, we are looking at the training

programs within the law enforcement. We need to better train our

law enforcement officers. I think that is one of the fundamental

keys to that.

The CHAIRMAN. I want to say that it is nice to hear that you are

getting some monetary controls in place, or you have some in mind

that you are going to put in place.

30

Do you have any idea where the money went that Congress has

already given to the agency? Who are you holding accountable for

missing funds?

Mr. ANDERSON. Sir, I do not know if you can hold any one person

accountable. I think what is important, and like I said earlier, the

Office of Management and Budget has said they have seen more

progress within the last few years than they have ever seen in history.

A lot of this is, our entire Bureau system did not have access to

technology. Much of our accounting was done by hand, very archaic. We have since undertaken a very major effort to bring our

agency offices, our regional offices, as well as our law enforcement,

into the 21st century.

We still have a long ways to go. Accountability has been one of

my highest priorities, and being able to provide access to the technology to do that. So, we are not there yet. It is on the radar

screen. We are working hard. It will take some time. It is a very

large system, but we had been behind the times for so many years.

We have that as a major concerted effort.

The CHAIRMAN. All right.

Senator Baucus?

Senator BAUCUS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Let me, first, ask about personnel. Mr. Lamar, how long have

you been with the BIA?

Mr. LAMAR. I have been with the Bureau of Indian Affairs for 6

years.

Senator BAUCUS. And why, then, should you be named as part

of the solution when you have been part of the problem?

Mr. LAMAR. I came to the Bureau of Indian Affairs 6 years ago

as——

Senator BAUCUS. This has been going on. This problem has been

going on in the last 6 years.

Mr. LAMAR. Yes, sir, Senator. It certainly has. I came to the Bureau of Indian Affairs 6 years ago from the FBI.

Senator BAUCUS. I am not talking about the FBI. You have been

with the Bureau the last 6 years.

Mr. LAMAR. Yes, sir. I have.

Mr. ANDERSON. He was just brought on when I came on board,

about a month after my coming on board.

Senator BAUCUS. Six years ago?

Mr. ANDERSON. This year. I just joined. I came on in February

of this year.

Senator BAUCUS. My concern, frankly, is taking somebody who is

part of the bureaucracy, that is part of the problem, and trying to

name that person in charge of a potential solution. I am not sure

it is going to wash. You ought to bring in somebody who is going

to really make something happen, not somebody who has been part

of the organization, part of the problem, it seems to me.

Mr. LAMAR. Senator, I might add that I am in an acting position.

The position has been advertised and posted, and I would expect

that a selection would be accomplished, hopefully, in the next few

months.

Senator BAUCUS. All right. Well, that is not my point, but I think

you got my point. I am a little concerned about anything being acVerDate 11-MAY-2000 16:32 Jun 16, 2005 Jkt 095484 PO 00000 Frm 00034 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 21032.000 SFINANC2 PsN: SFINANC2
31

complished here when somebody who has been part of the problem

has been named to be the solution, has been put in charge of trying

to solve this problem here.

That is just a big concern of mine. It is a deep concern, frankly.

Mr. Lamar has been with the Bureau for the last 6 years, and part

of the culture, part of the institution.

You need somebody outside, it seems to me, who is going to make

something happen here. This needs an outside stimulus, corrective

action, not somebody who is, again, for all intents and purposes, as

far as I can tell thus far, a part of the problem.

Mr. ANDERSON. Well, I am going to stand up for my people, since

what I have seen of him since I have been on board, he has really

stood up and taken a very proactive approach. Have we solved all

of the problems? No, we have not.

Senator BAUCUS. I am just curious. I know that everybody in this

room and the country would be curious. What are some examples?

Maybe, Mr. Lamar, you could tell us what, specifically, you have

done.

Mr. LAMAR. I returned to the Bureau of Indian Affairs after a 2-

year detail to the Department of Interior Office of Law Enforcement and Security. I was asked to take over as the Acting Deputy

Director for Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Law Enforcement

Services, and at that point—and I clearly recognize what the problem is.

The problem has been defined over and over, and we welcome

the most recent findings of the Inspector General. I do not think

there has been a time where we in the Bureau of Indian Affairs

Law Enforcement have attempted to hide this situation. In fact,

there are many occasions where we have spoken out and attempted

to obtain help.

I can tell you that, during the past 5 years when the program

came into being—the Law Enforcement in the Bureau of Indian Affairs is a new program. And while we have been building a program, certainly mistakes have been made. I returned to the Bureau

of Indian Affairs in this position.

What I did was, I attempted to put together, and have put together, a team of people. In the past year, we have hired three new

detention managers. That brings us to a grand total of five. I can

tell you that illustrates the issue that we face.

On a recent visit to the Inspector General’s office, I found that

there were six people that were just taking the opportunity to edit

the very report that we are looking at today. We have five people

overall managing an entire program, and we have five people that

we expect to be able to fix these deplorable conditions in Indian

country.

I can suggest to you that, when we talk about in the report

where it suggests there has been inaction, I would say that the five

people that we have out there working—in fact, the detention specialist headquartered in Billings, Montana, I would hate and hesitate to have to tell her that her work has been characterized as ‘‘inaction’’ when she recently was hospitalized for stress-related chest

pains. We have devised a strategic plan, and have the very benchmarks and milestones that you call for.

32

We have a team in place. Unfortunately, it is a very limited team

because we have very limited resources to dedicate to this program.

Senator BAUCUS. All right. Could you provide a copy of that plan,

please, to this committee?

Mr. LAMAR. I most certainly will, Senator.

Senator BAUCUS. I would appreciate that.

Mr. Anderson, I was a little disturbed, frankly, when you said

that the IG report was ‘‘an eye-opener’’ to you. Those are your

words.

Mr. ANDERSON. Yes, sir.

Senator BAUCUS. How in the world could this be an eye-opener

when this has been going on for so long? Have you not been doing

your job?

Mr. ANDERSON. Sir, I beg to differ with you. I came on board in

February, and you missed when I first started talking. But when

I first came on board, within 1 week after I came on board, Mr.

Devaney came to me.

Within 24 hours, I had taken corrective action. I had put together a team. By the end of that week, within 48 hours, I had assembled a team to start our own investigation. By the end of that

week, I had mobilized over 100 people.

We have put together probably one of the most comprehensive

pieces of work that this Department has ever had. I have over

4,000 entries in here where I can tell you every shower head, every

screw that is missing in one of these detention centers. I have not

taken this light-heartedly. I have been faced, as I said earlier while

you were gone, we just do not have third world conditions in jails.

I am faced with third world housing problems. I am faced with

third world substance abuse problems. We have 50 to 80 percent

unemployment throughout Indian country, and on a daily basis

these are things that I have to deal with.

But when I came on board, I have personally gone out and started visiting the jails. I have started personally visiting the tribes.

I have also been to Chemawa, and they tell me I am the first Assistant Secretary that has actually started addressing our students

in the high schools.

I believe that one of the reasons why I am here is because I have

a vision. That vision starts with our young people. We are currently working on a memorandum of agreement with the Boys and

Girls Club.

A lot of our reservations are rural, where our children are growing up. The real problems of suicide, substance abuse, and unemployment are not really symptoms of a failed Federal Government.

These are all symptoms of young people growing up without hope.

One of the things that we have been working on, we just do not

need bigger jails, we need a whole overhauling of how we have

been treating Indian people. We need to provide dreams for our

young people. I have worked with the Boys and Girls Club.

We are close to signing a memorandum of agreement where, for

the first time in history, we are going to be opening up our schools

after hours so our kids can access our gymnasiums, access our libraries. Our children do not have places to study. We have very

dysfunctional communities.

33

So, I believe that we are not only looking at the detention center

problem themselves, but we are trying to address a far greater

problem of what has been happening within Indian country.

Senator BAUCUS. Well, you have a tremendous opportunity—tremendous—because your predecessors certainly have not sufficiently

addressed the problem, and I do not care which administration it

is. They have not sufficiently addressed the problem.

As I mentioned earlier, I sometimes wonder whether BIA should

be abolished. The record passed has been so dismal. But you have

an opportunity here. It is a huge opportunity, and I wish you the

very, very best of luck, because a lot of people are counting on you.

A lot of people need those problems that you mentioned addressed. You are right, the question is really hope. There is a lack

of hope on Indian reservations. That is the fundamental problem.

There are lots of ways to get at that. It is economic, and it is also

in other ways.

By your showing up, that helps a lot, too. I would just encourage

you and Mr. Lamar to get around and visit as many locations as

you possibly can, because you are going to learn a lot, you are

going to see a lot. You will not get caught up in the BIA bureaucracy, the inertia, the dead weight that is in the BIA. There is a lot

of dead weight in the BIA. It should be cleaned out.

I would just encourage you to take advantage of the opportunity

that you have. Since you are new—and I apologize for not knowing

that you are new on the job—you do have a great opportunity and

I wish you well.

I also think that our committee, Mr. Chairman, should go ahead,

at the appropriate time, ask for those benchmarks, results, and

data and all that that is going to determine whether or not there

are results.

I appreciate, Mr. Lamar, all the people you appointed. But that

has nothing to do with results. You might get five instead of three

supervisors, and so forth, but that is just process. We need results

here.

The results really are the conditions of the facilities, the degree

to which there is crime, the degree to which there is a reduction

in suicide. You know what they are. We are talking about results

here. We are not talking about process.

The only way to determine results, is to get deadline, data, and

dates. That is what you need, and that is what we are going to ask

for, and appropriately. We will give you time, but not too much

time. Enough time to get the job done. Again, it is a tremendous

opportunity that you all have.

I might have been a little tough on you, Mr. Lamar, but on the

surface I am a little suspicious because you have been part of the

organization that is part of the problem here. But, still, you can redeem yourself by providing the results that we all want.

Mr. LAMAR. Senator, if I might state, I am not looking for redemption. I do not believe I need redemption. But I will tell you

that I understand the issues in Indian country. I have visited all

of those jails over the course of my Bureau of Indian Affairs career.

Senator BAUCUS. All of them?

Mr. LAMAR. I have visited the majority of the Indian country facilities. Yes, sir, I have.

34

Senator BAUCUS. Not all of them, a majority.

Mr. LAMAR. Not all of them. I have visited a majority of them,

and I completely understand the issues and problems. I did not

present the numbers of people that we hired to suggest that those

were nearly enough, or that was a vast improvement. That is barely even a beginning.

Senator BAUCUS. Can you tell me whether the Yakima facility,

the light fixture and the camera, have been fixed?

Mr. LAMAR. The fixture has not been fixed.

Senator BAUCUS. It has not been fixed?

Mr. LAMAR. But since that suicide has occurred, they have not

used that cell. They have shut down that cell block.

Senator BAUCUS. Will it be reopened?

Mr. LAMAR. It will be reopened, I would hope, after all of those

improvements have been made. We have sent people out there. We

have sent people out there to examine the facility. Shortly after the

suicide, we sent an investigator there to investigate the suicide. We

have counseled the tribe and urged them not to even consider opening that cell block until the improvements have been made.

Senator BAUCUS. Ms. Henke, what responsibility does the DOJ

have? Does the Department of Justice send grants to tribes for construction of jail facilities?

Ms. HENKE. As I stated in my testimony, our role is very limited.

There is the Correctional Facilities on Tribal Lands Program,

which is a grant program that the Department of Justice operates.

So, yes, we do have a grant program for brick and mortar construction costs only.

Senator BAUCUS. All right.

I have just a couple of other questions, Mr. Chairman.

So you do have that responsibility. What follow-up do you have?

What follow-up responsibility do you have?

Ms. HENKE. Well, the way that the Department of Justice and

the grant program works, is they draw down on the funds as expenses are incurred. So from an accountability perspective, we have

that information.

Something that is important for me to point out, however, is that

neither the Department of Justice, nor the Department of Interior,

had been provided any flexibility on where to direct those funds.

Senator BAUCUS. Have not?

Ms. HENKE. We have not been provided. Congress has provided

that direction to us, so the Department of Interior and the Department of Justice, for a number of years, have coordinated and collaborated on where resources should be provided.

The Department of Justice, with involvement in the process with

the Department of Interior and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, is involved in the selection process of those grantees. However, over the

past several years, Congress has not provided us any flexibility on

where to provide those resources.

Senator BAUCUS. What is the problem?

Ms. HENKE. The problem is that the funds are 100 percent directed by Congress on which recipients receive them, and that is

not necessarily based on need.

35

Senator BAUCUS. Well, that is not the question I am asking. I am

asking more with respect to accountability and follow-up, irrespective of what Congress has directed or not directed.

Ms. HENKE. Once again, from an accountability perspective, as I

stated, our grants that we award, once again, those grantees do

provide their regular reports, financial accounting, as well as program accounting for those awards. We can track those resources.

Senator BAUCUS. Do you know if the IG has a concern about the

DOJ’s follow-up and accounting?

Ms. HENKE. Currently, the Department of Justice’s Inspector

General has not provided us any relevant information on whether

or not he has undertaken any investigation on his own on our program.

Senator BAUCUS. Do you tend to agree or disagree with the IG’s

report, as presented today?

Ms. HENKE. We have no reason to disagree with the Department

of Interior’s report.

Senator BAUCUS. I am concerned. I heard somewhere that 11

percent of the $31 million supplemental was accounted for. My

math indicates that about 89 percent, then, was unaccounted for.

Mr. Anderson, what about that?

Mr. ANDERSON. I cannot comment on that. What I can say, is

that I think what you are getting at is, how are we going to start

accounting for it. I cannot answer for what has happened before

me, what has happened before I came on board.

But what I will tell you is, we are undergoing probably one of

the most comprehensive overhaulings of our whole accounting system. Everybody has recognized that the Bureau of Indian Affairs,

in the past, has probably had one of the most archaic accounting

systems, I think, just the way the whole system was set up.

Our regional offices that used to be responsible for the Bureau’s

detention center systems were just given pots of money, and then

the money was doled out. Today, probably one of the most challenging obstacles, but one of the most challenging missions I have

had to undertake, is the budgeting process and working with

tribes.

I will tell you that tribes, today, are understanding of what we

are trying to do. It has been a very difficult process, but we have

seen where our agency offices, our regional offices all have different

accounting systems.

Our jails have different accounting systems. Being able to access

information has been very difficult. But we are in the process of

where we are creating a standardized accounting system throughout the Bureau.

Senator BAUCUS. Mr. Lamar, the 89 percent. Does that sound

about right?

Mr. LAMAR. Yes, Senator.

Senator BAUCUS. Well, does that sound correct?

Mr. LAMAR. Yes, Senator.

Senator BAUCUS. Where is it, do you suppose, that 89 percent?

What happened to it?

Mr. LAMAR. I would suggest that the dollars were spent by the

tribes and by the Bureau of Indian Affairs for the law enforcement

programs.

36

Senator BAUCUS. How do you know that if it is unaccounted for?

Mr. LAMAR. I do not know, Senator. What I would suggest, and

the Inspector General laid it out very clearly and identified the

problem, is that there are not proper accounting procedures, that

it is, in fact, very difficult to hold the programs accountable. What

we are working to do is to break those dollars out.

Previously, the dollars were presented to the tribes in lump sum.

They were even presented as direct service programs in a lump

sum, with no line authority or no line items for detention, uniformed patrol, or criminal investigations. We are changing that

practice. We are changing that practice and we are instituting accounting codes to be able to better track the dollars.

Senator BAUCUS. Did you know during your 6 years’ service, if

not more years of service, to the BIA about the laxity in accounting, or did you need the IG to point that out to you?

Mr. LAMAR. I recognized it. I recognize the tremendously insufficient infrastructure that we had to be able to institute effective——

Senator BAUCUS. Did you ever monitor it in your 6-plus years

you have been at the Bureau?

Mr. LAMAR. Senator Baucus, we have, on numerous occasions,

worked to create awareness and create awareness that the problems existed.

Senator BAUCUS. Can you give us an exmaple of that?

Mr. LAMAR. We presented briefings to upper management in the

Bureau of Indian Affairs. We have presented briefings to management in the Department. I think that the assessments, the long

history of assessments in Indian country, have clearly pointed the

problem out over and over.

Senator BAUCUS. Did anything come out of all of those briefings

within the Bureau and within the Department?

Mr. LAMAR. No, sir.

Senator BAUCUS. Why not?

Mr. LAMAR. As you suggest, there is bureaucracy afoot. In fact,

what started out when I said that the program was continuing to

build, we accepted line authority. The Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Law Enforcement Services accepted line authority, full line

authority, for any country programs in 1999. That full line authority is for detention, criminal investigations, and uniformed patrol.

The philosophy then was to take as much of that new money and

put it to the programs in the field, so an absolute insufficient infrastructure, managerial infrastructure, was put in place for headquarters.

Second to that, our headquarters was located in Albuquerque,

New Mexico, far away from the mechanisms of Washington, DC,

the budget machine in Washington, DC. There was a difficulty

communicating the urgency of this situation throughout Indian

country law enforcement, including detention, from that far outpost

in Albuquerque.

The Department has recognized that, the Bureau of Indian Affairs has recognized that, and is in the process of moving the entire

headquarters back into Washington, DC.

The problems have been clearly identified. I have got to tell you

that I understand clearly that I am held suspect. I would urge you

to recognize that I have a tremendous sincerity.

37

Senator BAUCUS. Sincerity counts, but results are what we are

looking for.

Mr. LAMAR. Absolutely.

Senator BAUCUS. And so, again, I deeply appreciate your sincerity. That is good. But it is results we want. We will give you

time to provide those results.

Mr. Talks About, the Blackfeet prison, as the Inspector General

reported, in the past year, everyone who works there has been assaulted. Could you just help us better understand the problem? Describe the conditions, and also your ideas as to what some of the

solutions maybe should be.

Mr. TALKS ABOUT. The conditions there that exist are very bad.

I believe we have a video that will be presented for the testimony

here that will show the conditions. But we are talking assaults.

There needs to be that authority. We either do it ourselves, or the

Bureau needs to do their visit and, I guess, implement their authority.

One of the things I am very thankful for, for the government, is

that we have self-governance. I think the Blackfeet tribe is looking

toward this area. I feel, personally, that the Bureau needs to be

scaled back and let the tribes run our law enforcement.

Some of these problems that we have talked about here, the accountability, I feel we just need the education and the authority.

We need line officers to come to Blackfeet and to educate all involved in Blackfeet law enforcement on how contracts and grants

are to be executed. They need to understand compliance, monitoring, and accountability.

We have had an Inspector General audit, and it revealed a lot.

But, overall, I do feel that our people need to be educated. I think

all the tribes need to be. There are a lot of tribes that are more

advanced and have taken that responsibility. But these things are

in the past for the Blackfeet.

Like most of us on the council now, yes, there is government assistance, but we are looking to our natural resources, to the things

that we have, and to use those to move forward with self-sufficiency or cooperation with the government, and we can do this.

Yes, I know there is that need for a jail, and we are working very

hard and we want to work with whatever agency needs our help.

We do have resources that we also can bring to the overall plan

from our part. But I know, if government funds this, they fund our

jail, we will need to implement all these things that I have just

spoken of.

But there are good plans. Like I said, we need to work together.

I am willing to work with the BIA. Like I said, I, like you, understand that scaling back the Bureau of Indian Affairs would bring

up a lot more money that I feel our tribe could benefit from. Thank

you.

Senator BAUCUS. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, I have no more questions. I would like to think

that there are a couple of themes here. One, as mentioned, the

chairman talks about, namely, cooperation and working together to

get some solutions here. Another, is all of us take responsibility for

38

this problem. All of us. That is including Mr. Anderson, Mr. Lamar,

Ms. Henke, and it is also Congress, too, that takes responsibility.

I am happy to hear that very few people are blaming or pointing

the finger of blame totally, although I must say I am a little critical

of the Bureau. But I think that criticism is warranted based on

past experience.

We must take this opportunity, this challenge for all of us. I

would urge all of us, all the employees, all of us here, the bosses,

to step out and exercise that responsibility for the people that we

represent.

So, I thank you all very much. We have got a huge problem here.

Huge. Some will say it cannot be done, but let us prove them

wrong. Let us get it done.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Senator Baucus.

Just one last point I would make, and one last, short question

of Mr. Anderson. But it would be to repeat something I said to you,

Mr. Anderson, about your desire to make change. Bureaucracy and

government resist change. I am glad when there are people like

you that come in with the sincerity who want to make change, and

would just encourage you to stand all the tests that you are going

to get.

Then my question to you is, I think that the Inspector General

said that he is making 25 recommendations. My question is, if you

know what all those 25 recommendations are and you can commit

yourself to following his recommendations, say yes.

If there is some exception or modification that you want to be

careful about what you can do or not do, or want to do and not do,

then I would ask you to submit a point on each of those that you

think you cannot commit to doing. But how do you feel about the

25 recommendations? Do you think that those are something that

you are committing to accomplishing?

Mr. ANDERSON. I am familiar with the 25 recommendations that

the Inspector General has put forth. We are actually pretty much

in full agreement with them. Those recommendations, some of

them, directly reflect the same findings that we have found in our

subsequent investigations.

I just want to say something I did not say earlier. This whole discussion strikes closer to home with me than probably what you

would know.

Just a month ago, my own 80-year-old parents were victimized

by our youth on drugs, and were robbed in their home in the middle of the night, and their vehicle stolen. So, I have a very sincere

concern about this.

Like I said, I believe that in my own life, the reason why I am

here today is because three times I should have been dead, but I

believe that God’s hand has been over my life. I believe the success

I have had in business is one of the reasons why I am here, because of my willingness to give back to my community, because I

do care.

The CHAIRMAN. I thank you, and I thank all of the panel. The

hearing is completed. Thank you all very much.

[Whereupon, at 12:25 p.m., the hearing was concluded.]

(39)

A P P E N D I X

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD

PREPARED STATEMENT OF DAVID W. ANDERSON

Good morning, Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee. I am David Anderson, Assistant Secretary—Indian Affairs. Thank you for inviting me to speak with

you today on the conditions of Indian country detention center facilities, especially

regarding the issues raised by the Department’s Office of the Inspector General

(OIG) in an interim report issued in April 2004. The OIG plays a critical role in

providing objective oversight, which promotes efficiency and effectiveness in the Department. We take very seriously the deficiencies raised by the OIG interim report

and are actively working on implementing improvements. On June 23, 2004, I testified before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on this issue. We appreciate the

opportunity to provide this Committee with information concerning improvements

that have been made to detention centers.

Problems with Indian country detention centers have been decades in the making.

At the beginning of my term as Assistant Secretary, I was briefed on the problems

with these detention centers. Within 24 hours, I convened the necessary resources

to address these serious issues. We immediately inspected all 39 BIA detention centers for health and safety problems. We completed more than 1,000 physical condition repairs. This year we have committed $5 million more than last year in making

these corrections. I have personally visited several detention centers to see the conditions firsthand. We sought, received and retained expert advice from the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Prisons. We are surveying our facilities and have developed a strategic plan to address immediate issues and build long-term infrastructure in the detention operations. Many of the recommendations in that strategic

plan are echoed today by the OIG report. We are addressing the problems of health

and safety issues and escapes by improving management and oversight, increasing

training for detention personnel, and repairing facilities. We are making progress,

but recognize a lot more work needs to be done. I stand committed to addressing

these problems.

BACKGROUND

Until the 1960s, jail construction on Indian lands was very limited. Department

of Justice Law Enforcement Administration Assistance grants were provided for

construction of jails in Indian country. Many of these facilities, now forty years old,

are still in operation today. Older detention centers present many challenges, such

as ongoing maintenance and needed improvements to these aging, high-use facilities.

There are seventy-four confinement facilities, detention centers, jails, and other

facilities—to be referred to in this testimony as ‘‘detention centers’’—operated by

tribal authorities or the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Indian Country. Nineteen facilities are BIA operated. The remaining fifty-five are tribally operated. Thirty-nine facilities are BIA owned (three of these detention centers do not house inmates and

are used for Law Enforcement offices). The remaining thirty-five detention centers

are owned and operated by tribes, either independently or through P.L. 93–638 contracts or self-governance compacts. The BIA administers and monitors these contracts facilities. We recognize the need to be more active in the administration of

these contracts. In addition, within the past two years we have opened three new

Department of Justice funded detention centers and anticipate that an additional

seventeen new detention centers will be completed in 2005. Eight of these new DOJ

facilities will replace existing centers. These detention centers are being built by the

40

tribes from grants issued by the Department of Justice. Funding for staffing, operating and maintaining these facilities is provided by the BIA.

IDENTIFICATION OF DEFICIENCIES

In February 2004, when I became Assistant Secretary—Indian Affairs, I was

briefed on Indian country detention programs and the ongoing challenges related to

the physical conditions and management structure and the issues raised by the OIG

interim findings. At this briefing I immediately determined that critical improvements were needed, in addition to those that were already underway. Since February, the BIA has taken immediate and proactive steps to identify the deficiencies

at the detention centers and to take appropriate action.

Within forty-eight hours of my February briefing, I assigned key personnel to be

responsible for identifying and addressing detention center issues. All 39 of the BIA

owned detention centers were inspected for operational, health, and safety concerns

by March 10, 2004. The twenty detention centers in the poorest condition that are

owned by the BIA were also inspected for structural, plumbing, electrical and environmental concerns by March 10, 2004 and inspections of the remaining nineteen

were completed by June 1, 2004. Inspections were completed in compliance with

BIA handbooks that are based upon national standards, uniform building codes, National Fire Life—Safety codes, and all pertinent environmental standards.

We have identified 4,313 deficiencies; 57% of which were life safety problems, 31%

physical plant problems, 8% handicap problems and 3% environmental problems. All

needed repairs have been entered into the BIA’s Facility Management Information

System for tracking of project completion and full financial accountability.

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. EARL DEVANEY

Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, I want to thank you for the opportunity to address the Committee this morning concerning the state of Indian detention facilities.

As part of the ongoing effort of my office to examine law enforcement and security

programs within the Department of the Interior (DOI), we began an assessment of

the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ (BIA) detention program in September of 2003.

At the very outset, it became abundantly clear that some of the facilities we visited were egregiously unsafe, unsanitary, and a hazard to both inmates and staff

alike. Simply stated, we found BIA’s detention program riddled with problems and,

in our estimation, it is a national disgrace with many facilities having conditions

comparable to those found in third-world countries. Our final report, being issued

today, found clear evidence of a continuing crisis of inaction, indifference, and mismanagement throughout the entire BIA detention program.

We also discovered a long history of neglect and apathy on the part of BIA senior

management officials, despite repeated warnings about the woeful conditions of

their detention program. Whether it lacks the organizational will, or infrastructure,

or both, BIA has not been able to sustain its focus on the problems at its detention

facilities long enough to resolve them. And, absent relentless pressure and the unflagging support of senior Department management, I fear it is unlikely to do so

in the future.

In April of this year, I briefed the Secretary and her senior staff about the most

serious findings we had discovered up to that point in our assessment. This spring

and early summer, I issued an interim report and also testified before the Senate

Committee on Indian Affairs to further highlight the egregious conditions we were

uncovering. Unfortunately, as we continued our assessment of the detention program, our work exposed a plethora of additional problems.

To her credit, Secretary Norton immediately responded to both my briefing and

interim report by directing senior Department and BIA managers to take ownership

of these problems and to implement concrete reforms. She also promptly requested

the assistance of the Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, which resulted in

a senior-level detention professional being detailed to the Department to assist BIA.

Sadly, while BIA has now produced a strategic tasking plan, no real progress has

been made to make the detention facilities safer or more secure. For instance, since

just the first of August, there have been two new deaths, at least 5 more suicide

attempts and an alarming 16 new escapes from Indian country jails.

Our final report makes 25 recommendations to help the Secretary realize genuine

change for this broken program. These recommendations focus on the following

issues.

41

OVERSIGHT AND COORDINATION

Senior BIA Law Enforcement Services (BIA-LES) officials have acknowledged that

the detention program is severely understaffed, that facilities are overcrowded, and

that neither has received the attention or funding to adequately address these deficiencies. Not once during our assessment did BIA-LES officials deny the dire condition of the program or the profound and serious maintenance issues at the facilities.

These officials readily admit that they have placed a higher priority on the policing

aspect of law enforcement rather than on detention matters.

Since 2000, the detention program has been coordinated by a Detention Program

Manager working out of the BIA-LES Central Office. This manager was provided

with limited training, virtually no staff and minimal authority to accomplish his duties. At the outset of our assessment, we discovered that he had been assigned as

the BIA-LES Acting Deputy Director of Operations, effectively leaving the detention

program without a functioning manager.

Six BIA District Commanders are responsible for managing BIA jail day-to-day

operations. Our assessment, however, found the oversight of the jails by these District Commanders to be virtually non-existent. In fact, several District Commanders

had never visited some of the jails under their command or spoken with the jail administrators.

The Department of the Interior, Office of Law Enforcement Services (DOI-OLES)

is responsible for overseeing all Department law enforcement and security programs, including BIA’s. However, we found no evidence that they have ever provided any oversight for the Indian detention program.

Our report concludes that BIA-LES simply does not have the administrative infrastructure to properly manage and oversee the detention program. They are further

challenged by the frustration, cynicism, and apathy that infect Indian Country detention personnel. The overall mismanagement and neglect of the program has left

many personnel with the attitude that management is not interested in the detention program and that nobody cares about the jails, the staff, or the inmates.

SAFETY AND SECURITY

Our report chronicles 11 fatalities, 236 attempted suicides, and 631 escapes at Indian Country jails over the last three years. We believe these numbers to be conservative given that 98% of these incidents have never been reported to BIA-LES.

Our efforts to determine more precise numbers were frustrated because local records

are often inconsistent or poorly maintained by jail administrators. One jail administrator confirmed our concerns that incidents are underreported when he stated,

‘‘What happens on the reservation stays on the reservation.’’

We relate the circumstances surrounding all of the fatalities in our report, including the death of Cindy Gilbert, a 16-year old student who died of alcohol poisoning

while in a detention cell at the Chemawa Indian School in Oregon, and I note that

Miss Gilbert’s aunt and guardian has traveled from Oregon to speak to you today

about this tragedy.

Suicide attempts appear to be a regular occurrence at many of these facilities.

Data obtained from our 27 site visits alone indicated a total of 236 suicide attempts

over a three year period. In addition to our findings, the Bureau of Justice Statistics

(BJS) reported that during the period of June 2001–2002, suicide attempts had more

than doubled, while there had only been a 32% increase in jail admissions for the

same time period.

Mr. Chairman, when I testified before the Committee on Indian Affairs, I spoke

about my personal visit to the Yakama jail and the extraordinarily high rate of suicides at that facility. Just two days after my testimony, another inmate hanged himself from a broken light fixture. Only a lone dispatcher was on duty that night, similar to the night in 1997 when another inmate committed suicide at the same jail.

Despite assurances to the contrary, BIA inexplicably did not inspect the conditions

at this jail until just last week.

While we could not identify a specific cause for what appears to be a high rate

of suicides and suicide attempts in Indian Country detention facilities, we do note

that many studies have shown that careful and thorough screening is absolutely

necessary to identify suicidal tendencies, and the importance of having properly

trained personnel on duty to conduct suicide screening, especially during intake.

During our site visits, we found little evidence that this kind of screening takes

place.

Escapes from Indian jails appear to be routine and are casually viewed by detention officers at the jails we visited as inevitable. Physically rundown and deplorably

maintained, many of the facilities provide ample opportunity for escape.

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Another means of escape comes when inmates need medical attention. Inmates

are regularly left unguarded in the care of medical staff or hospital security personnel who are not trained to handle or restrain inmates. At one facility we visited,

inmates who require medical care, which the jail cannot afford to pay for, are actually released from custody on the hope that they will return on their own after

treatment. Not surprisingly, detention officers at this facility told us that inmates

have learned to feign illness because they know that they will be released if they

claim a need for medical treatment.

Perhaps even more disturbing than the actual circumstances and frequency of inmate escapes at these facilities are the lack of response and importance placed on

these incidents by both detention officers and facility administrators alike. We found

that some facilities do not even notify local law enforcement of prisoner escapes.

Clearly, it is irresponsible to allow escaped prisoners to travel freely in a community

and surrounding areas while the local law enforcement authorities have no information about their escapes.

DETENTION FACILITY STAFFING

When conducting our site visits, we discovered that 79% of the facilities fell below

minimum staffing levels on a regular basis. One manager remarked, ‘‘We are often

down to none.’’

In fact, we found that the majority of the detention facilities we visited operated

with only one detention officer per shift and often times the officer had several collateral duties that took his/her attention away from the inmates. Even more disturbing was our discovery that a number of jails have shifts with no detention officers on duty. In these instances, dispatchers, cooks or police officers fill in while continuing to do their primary jobs.

It is unreasonable to expect one detention officer to perform all of these duties

under normal conditions. During periods of increased inmate population such as

weekends and holidays or when jails are overcrowded, the challenges faced by a single detention officer become overwhelming.

Lone detention officers are also at great risk of being assaulted, injured, or even

killed during the performance of their duties. During our assessment, we were told

of countless incidents of assaults on detention officers. In fact, one BIA District

Commander told us, ‘‘Every officer here has been assaulted.’’ BIA management has

been aware of the unsafe conditions created by insufficient staffing for over six

years, with little evidence to indicate that there has been any more than a token

effort to correct the staffing shortage.

DETENTION FACILITY MAINTENANCE

We found the condition of the majority of the jails we visited to be abysmal—the

result of years of neglect and failure to perform even routine repairs in a timely

manner. Records reflect that BIA and the tribes have consistently failed to adequately maintain their detention facilities. In a 1994 Report, my office found that

BIA and the tribes had not adequately maintained detention facilities or corrected

hazardous health and safety conditions at these detention facilities. Most of the facilities we visited then were unsanitary and in disrepair. Ten years later, in this

assessment, we found the very same conditions—unchanged.

Unless this trend is reversed, many of the newer jails in Indian Country will prematurely deteriorate due to a similar lack of upkeep and maintenance. In fact,

many of the newer jails we visited are already showing signs of accelerated aging

and wear due to delay of necessary repairs.

Maintenance shortcomings can have a direct impact upon officer and inmate safety; yet there is little indication that any emphasis is placed on expediting repairs.

For example, we found sprinkler systems inoperable; keys so worn that they cannot

reliably lock or unlock cell doors; and an observation camera in a high-risk cell facing the ceiling.

Many other maintenance shortcomings impact sanitation. We observed toilets that

do not flush, showers and sinks that do not work, and inoperative hot water heaters

that have not been replaced.

BIA has an enormous maintenance backlog, but little has been done to correct the

majority of the problems. Our examination of BIA’s Facility Management Information System found it sorely lacking in accuracy or reliability. In July 2003, GAO expressed similar concerns about the quality of data being entered into this system.

FUNDING OF THE DETENTION PROGRAM

In the last four years, Congress has given BIA $637 million for law enforcement.

In addition, since 1999, BIA has also received supplemental funding totaling $31.5

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million specifically designated for hiring detention officers and preparing new detention facilities for operation.

BIA-LES was unable to produce any annual budget submissions for our review.

We later learned that BIA-LES managers use historical funding levels as their new

annual budget requests and have rarely asked for actual budget increases. In addition, we discovered that BIA-LES does not seek to obtain accurate or realistic budget projections from detention facility administrators. In fact, funds allocated to individual jails by BIA-LES are not even tracked. Their failure to make an effort to assess the true cost of operations or to have any internal controls in place becomes

a self-fulfilling prophecy.

These fiscal management failures also impact new detention facilities built with

funds awarded as grants by the Department of Justice (DOJ). Since 1997, DOJ has

provided over $150 million in construction grants for new detention facilities. However, these grants are only for construction of the facility. BIA is then responsible

for providing the funding for operational costs. Given the poor budget planning and

execution by BIA-LES, it was not surprising to learn that facilities completed with

DOJ grant monies often do not get the necessary funding to actually open for business.

OTHER CONCERNS

Training for detention staff presents yet another challenge in Indian Country. We

found that 52% of all the detention officers at the sites we visited had not received

detention officer training. We learned of two officers who were on the job for twelve

and seven years, respectively, before attending any detention office training. Untrained or poorly trained personnel place both inmates and officers at great risk.

Another finding that caused us concern, was the housing of juveniles together

with adults. At one facility, we were told that a juvenile had been raped by an inmate while being held in the jail for social services, because there was no other

place to hold the child.

Overcrowding is the norm. Of the facilities we visited, over half of the jail personnel said their facilities were habitually overcrowded. Inmates often sleep on the

floor.

Although a detention policy handbook was published in 1996, BIA consistently

fails to follow its own guidelines for the detention program, in part, because the

handbook imposes one-size-fits-all policies and procedures. In response to our interim report, BIA-LES reports that they are working to develop new standards that

finally will be tailored to facility size, staff and inmate population.

BIA’s neglect and mismanagement of the detention program has resulted in over $850,000 being paid to settle lawsuits over the last three years. Another $11 million

in claims is pending. Obviously BIA is sitting on a liability time bomb and must

act to diffuse it now so that the modest funds available can be used for their intended purpose, instead of potentially being consumed by legal fees, fines, and judgments.

POSITIVE FINDINGS

Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, to be fair, I feel I should indicate

to you that BIA-LES officials readily acknowledged the deplorable conditions at the

detention facilities and have expressed grave concern over our findings. They have

also made some recent management and staffing changes at various levels of the

detention program which are positive developments. A strategic task management

plan with assigned personnel has been proffered and they are beginning to seek assistance from outside professional corrections organizations. A process to ensure

that maintenance issues are promptly communicated has been implemented.

We also cite in our report a number of facilities we visited with best practices,

which might be used as models to advance the needed improvements in Indian detention facilities.

CONCLUSION

The responsibility for the conditions and failings we found at Indian Country detention facilities cannot be attributed to any particular individual or administration.

Some of these problems are decades old. Thus, the solutions will not be easy to

achieve and may take considerable time, effort, and funding. Although a tasking

plan for improving detention facilities is admirable, absent strong leadership, tireless management and extensive hard work, plans alone will not do anything to correct the many failings chronicled here. As we say in our final report, nothing less

than a Herculean effort to turn these conditions around would be morally acceptable.

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PREPARED STATEMENT OF TRACY A. HENKE

Mr. Chairman, and members of the Committee, my name is Tracy Henke and I

serve as the Deputy Associate Attorney General for the Department of Justice.

Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the Department’s limited role with tribal

detention facilities.

Today, thirty-three states contain approximately 300 Indian land areas or reservations. Jurisdiction over crimes in Indian country depends on several factors, including the identity of the victim and the offender, the severity of the crime, and

where the crime was committed.

There are two groups of Indian offenders who may be in federal custody. First,

there are prisoners who have committed an offense under federal law. Often, these

offenses fall under 18 U.S.C. § 1152 and § 1153. Section 1153, known as the Major

Crimes Act, gives the federal government jurisdiction to prosecute certain enumerated serious offenses, such as murder, manslaughter, rape, aggravated assault, and

child sexual abuse, when they are committed by Indians in Indian country (Tribes

also have concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute Major Crimes, although tribes are limited by statute to imposing one-year prison sentences and $5,000 fines). Section

1152, known as the Indian Country Crimes Act, gives the federal government exclusive jurisdiction to prosecute all crimes committed by non-Indians against Indian

victims. Section 1152 also grants the Federal Government jurisdiction to prosecute

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minor crimes by Indians against non-Indians, although that jurisdiction is shared

with tribes. Offenders in this category are under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of

Prisons (BOP), and not in Indian tribal facilities.

The second group are prisoners who have committed offenses under tribal law. Indian prisoners in this group are under the jurisdiction of the tribe whose law has

been violated. As part of their inherent sovereignty, Indian tribes have jurisdiction

to prosecute all crimes committed under tribal law by Indians in Indian country.

These prisoners are generally in facilities operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs

(BIA) or the tribal government. Currently, of the 74 facilities in Indian country, 39

are owned by the BIA. Of the thirty-nine BIA facilities, 19 are operated by BIA and

the operations of the remaining 20 are contracted out. The remaining 35 facilities

are owned and operated by tribal governments under PL 93–638 contracts.

The Department of Justice’s involvement with Indian country detention facilities

is generally limited to our Correctional Facilities on Tribal Lands Program. This

program, authorized by Section 20109, Subtitle A of Title II of the Violent Crime

Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. Section 13701 et seq.) provides

funds to American Indian and Alaska Native tribes to construct correctional facilities on tribal lands for the incarceration of offenders subject to tribal jurisdiction.

Corrections facility is defined as a residential facility that houses adult or juvenile

offenders accused or adjudicated of a crime.

Specifically, the Department of Justice has administered tribal correctional facility grants totaling $19,453,000 in FY 2001; $35,191,000 in FY 2002; $4,967,000 in

FY 2003; and $1,895,000 in FY 2004. It is important to understand that these

grants are statutorily limited to ‘‘brick and mortar’’ construction costs only. Grantees are responsible for fully supporting, operating, and maintaining these correctional facilities.

Since the inception and funding of the program, the Department of Justice has

provided funding to 23 tribes for jail construction. Of these 23 facilities, 8 facilities

are exclusively juvenile, 12 are combined adult/juvenile, and 3 are exclusively adult.

All 23 tribes are actively implementing design or construction initiatives. Some have

added beds to existing facilities, but most involve new construction. Proposed facilities range in size from 8 to 68 beds.

In addition to the Correctional Facilities on Tribal Lands Program, the Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) compiles statistics relating to detention facilities in Indian country. In November 2003, the BJS published ‘‘Jails in Indian

Country, 2002,’’ the most recent survey of adult and juvenile detention centers in

Indian country. Data for the BJS bulletin was obtained by mailed questionnaires

accompanied by follow-up phone calls and facsimiles. In total, 68 of the facilities in

Indian country responded. For the Committee’s review, copies of the BJS bulletin,

‘‘Jails in Indian Country, 2002,’’ as well as the BJS questionnaire sent to the detention facilities have been provided. It is important to note that while the BJS bulletin

contains statistical information about Indian detention facilities, it does not gather

information regarding conditions in the jails.

As the Administration, through BIA, works to improve Indian detention facilities,

the Department of Justice will continue to assist as we are able. Most recently, an

experienced administrator from the Department’s Bureau of Prisons was detailed to

the BIA to assist in the development of strategies to improve the delivery of detention services in Indian country. The Department of Justice looks forward to this opportunity to work with the Department of Interior to address this issue.

Mr. Chairman, Attorney General Ashcroft has pledged to honor our Federal trust

responsibility and to work with sovereign Indian Nations on a government-to-government basis. The Attorney General and the entire Justice Department will honor

this commitment and continue to assist tribal justice systems in their effort to promote safe communities. We also recognize that the most effective solutions to the

problems facing tribes come from the tribes themselves, and that our role is to help

them develop and implement their own law enforcement, detention, and criminal

justice strategies.

I welcome the opportunity to answer any questions you or members of the committee may have.

PREPARED STATEMENT OF CORINNA SOHAPPY

Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee, my name is Corinna Sohappy. I am

here this morning to talk about the death of my niece, Cindy Gilbert Sohappy, in

a jail operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

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First, I would like to tell you about Cindy. Cindy was 16 years old when she

passed away. She was a tall, beautiful, popular, and smart young lady. She was not

afraid to go off on her own and take a chance.

Unfortunately, she was born into a very chaotic family environment. Cindy’s

mother was plagued with a variety of personal issues. I was given legal custody of

Cindy by the court in August 2003 after her mother was placed in an alcohol treatment program in California.

Cindy attended the Chemawa Indian School in Salem, Oregon. Although it was

more than a three-hour drive from our home in Warm Springs, Chemawa offered

her many more educational opportunities than our local high school.

Cindy was doing very well at Chemawa and had many big dreams about what

she wanted to do with her life. At the time of her death, she was only two credits

short of becoming the first person in her family to graduate from high school.

She planned to go to college after graduation. She was learning to drum and sing;

she also jingle-dress danced, a tradition in our tribe that you may know of as a

‘‘pow-wow.’’ She dreamed of traveling, and she hoped that by joining the Army or

the Marines someday, she would have that opportunity.

Given the unstable environment in which Cindy grew up, and the many challenges that she faced, our family took great pride in Cindy’s success.

In the evening of December 6, 2003, after attending our local Christmas lights parade, I received a message that changed my family forever. I was told to call

Chemawa because Cindy was not breathing.

When I called them, I was told that they ‘‘lost her.’’ I asked them what they

meant; did she get up and walk away? They told me that she had passed away.

I asked if they were sure it was Cindy. The man on the phone told me that he

knew Cindy, and that he knew this was her. I was so devastated that I dropped

the phone on the floor.

My cousin picked up the phone and was told that the FBI and the Oregon State

Police wanted to know what to do with Cindy’s body. We told them to leave it where

it was. We left immediately and arrived at Chemawa around 6:00 in the morning.

A security guard escorted us to what looked like a facilities or maintenance shack

located well away from the school building.

As we entered the building, we walked through a small office that looked like a

booking room. As the daughter of a patrolman and a police dispatcher, I had grown

up around a jail and I knew what a booking room looked like.

As we continued, we entered the jail. There were four cells, all made of cement

blocks with heavy steel doors on each of them. We continued walking to the last

cell, where Cindy was lying on the floor. The cell was about 4 or 5 feet wide and

about 10 feet long. There was a mattress lying near the door, with blood splattered

on the mattress.

Cindy was lying with her right hand extended upward. She had blood around her

mouth and nose, and on her shirt.

The staff could not explain to me why she was bleeding. I tried to move her arm

to rest it across her chest, but she was already cold and her arm very stiff.

Throughout her life, Cindy had rarely gotten herself into trouble. We were told

that on this evening, however, Cindy had been provided with alcohol by an older

friend and was caught drinking near the school.

She was placed in the cell to sober up at about 8:15 pm. When the staff next

checked on her nearly three hours later, she was not breathing. We were told that

she had stopped breathing because of the amount of alcohol in her body.

My nephew, who also attended Chemawa at the time, had followed Cindy to the

jail that evening to make sure that the staff gave her the supervision she needed.

He had seen how intoxicated she was, and warned the jail staff that it was not safe

to leave her alone.

My nephew told me that while Cindy was being carried into the cell—since she

was too drunk to walk on her own—the jail staff made jokes about her.

Until that morning, I did not know that this dreadful jail even existed at

Chemawa. I have since learned about many prior incidences in which high school

students had been locked up with poor supervision.

My youngest brother, who also attended Chemawa for a time, told me that he was

once locked in this jail without supervision after drinking—nearly 20 years ago.

Other relatives of Chemawa students told me about the annual homecoming celebration at the school, when as many as 92 students have been locked into these 4

small cells at one time.

This is a dreadful tragedy that simply did not have to happen. If the staff at

Chemawa had provided even the least amount of supervision in the jail, Cindy

would be with us today.

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The loss of Cindy has left my family in a fragile state. I worry about the effects

of her death on my parents and on Cindy’s two younger siblings, who I also care

for.

I would like to thank the Committee for considering this important issue. It is

my sincere hope that by coming to Washington this morning, and by sharing Cindy’s

story with you, that no one else will have to die unnecessarily.

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. WILLIAM TALKS ABOUT, JR.

Oki (‘‘Greetings’’ in the Blackfeet Language), Chairman Grassley, Senator Baucus,

and members of the Senate Finance Committee.

My name is William A. Talks About, a full-blooded member of the Blackfeet Tribe

of Indians of the State of Montana.

I am pleased to have been invited to present testimony on behalf of my tribe before this honorable committee.

I am the Chairman of our Tribal Council, which consists of nine councilmen, who

are the representative Government of the members of the Blackfeet Tribe.

Our council and I are in full agreement about the relevance of this issue, and they

have empowered me to speak on their behalf and that of our membership.

The Blackfeet Indian Reservation borders Canada and Glacier National Park This

reservation consists of 1.5 million acres. The enrolled population is approximately

15,500 members, of which over 8,000+ reside on the Blackfeet reservation. The reservation makes up most of Glacier County and a small portion of Ponderay County.

As public safety becomes a greater issue everywhere, detention and correctional

facilities have become a greater concern for the Blackfeet Tribe. The Blackfeet Tribe

has seen a dramatic inmate population growth, operational and management

changes, and an increase in special needs population.

With your permission, if I can use the distinction of non-Indian Jails (meaning

other jails in America) versus Indian Jails (those jails on Indian reservations), then

through studied perception we will see that there is a distinct contrast between Indian and non-Indian Jails. That is, the non-Indian jails are built properly, have adequate staff and funding from tax monies. The need for new correction/detention facilities is preeminent on the Blackfeet reservation.

The conditons relative to the Blackfeet Community jail are negatively immense

and intense. The conditions are typical and are a good example of Indian jails across

the Nation.

It is a simple analogy that if one jail in Indian Country is the only jail that needs

to be corrected, then the answer would be to fix that one jail, but if there is a continuous pattern of deplorable conditions that exist across the Nation in Indian jails

then reform needs to take place.

Just as much that there is a sense of urgency to reform the system of incarceration on Indian reservations by the Federal Government, then the same sense of

urgency is felt by those actively involved in the law and order on Indian reservations and the people that are affected.

Across the board and throughout the hallmarks of justice, this committee will

hear of the nature of those conditions in Indian jails. That will add credence that

reform is needed.

In 1970, the Blackfeet tribal jail was constructed and was condemned shortly

thereafter because of a bad sewer system. It is approximately 9,197 square feet and

has 12 cells, and to date is still a condemned facility. Renovation took place, but

was a Band-Aid effect and gradually moved back to the current situation of being

bad and a blight. The jail has a very small recreation area that is only accessible

in the summer months. The building is constructed out of brick, so in the summer

months it is up to 20 degrees hotter inside the facility. Further, the plumbing in

the cells only works sometimes. Many inmates have sentences longer than 30 days.

Our current juvenile detention facility was originally built for the youth as a safe

haven. Eventually it was turned into a correctional facility and has been eroding

because of the material it was built out of. To date we have many inspections by

the BIA, Federal government, State, and Tribal agencies that require renovations.

What can we do, together, to address the issue of jail reform?

My suggestions would be to:

1. Build a larger adult detention facility to accommodate more prisoners in a safe

and sanitary environment. The capacity for the 34-year old jail is 45 total—men and

women. Currently the overcrowding prisoners present a threat to the health and

welfare of the incarcerated individuals. At times there have been as many as 110

total men and women incarcerated at the Blackfeet jail.

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2. Build a larger juvenile detention facility to accommodate more prisoners in a

safe and sanitary environment The current capacity for the juveniles is 5 females,

9 males, and two safety cells which adds an additional 2 incarcerated juveniles—

for a total of 16 maximum. Upon certain celebrations and occasions our detention

facility has had as many as 35 incarcerated at one time, which is twice the building

capacity.

3. Promote that the tribal court and Northern Police Training Center be built

with our adult and juvenile detention facility to create stability and integrity to the

Blackfeet Nation. Without the tribal court and law enforcement collaborating closely

together, our law and order will not be and is currently not balanced.

4. Within the new structure we will have the added floor space for the rehabilitation that is currently lacking in both the adult and juvenile facilities. Which is the

counseling offices, and outdoor recreation.

5. The Police Training Center would not only be for our Blackfeet members but

for all the Northern Tribes that do not have the financial ability to continue to send

their members to Albuquerque, NM.

I would like to thank you for your time, Senators, and I and our people are eager

and anxious to work toward this great effort.

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COMMUNICATIONS

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