EMBARGOED UNTIL 4:30 P.M. EDT BJS
SUNDAY, JULY 9, 2000 202/307-0784
JAILS AFFILIATED WITH 53 AMERICAN INDIAN TRIBES IN 18
STATES HELD 1,621 INMATES ON JUNE 30, 1999
WASHINGTON, D.C. More than 1,600 American Indians
were incarcerated in Indian country jails at midyear 1999,
the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS),
announced today. The number was 8 percent higher than the
previous year.
The data are based on a survey of Indian country
detention facilities, which included 69 jails affiliated
with 53 tribes in 18 states (see attached table).
Forty-eight facilities are operated by Indian tribes, 20 by
the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and one is
privately run.
The tribes in the survey have maintained jurisdiction
over certain misdemeanors committed within Indian territory.
Tribal authority to imprison offenders is limited to crimes
with sentences of one year or less and a $5,000 maximum
fine. More serious felony offenses are generally
under the jurisdiction of federal or state authorities.
However, on many Indian reservations there are no tribal
courts or jails; in those sites, federal or state
authorities maintain all criminal jurisdiction, including
misdemeanors.
There were 19,679 Indians in confinement throughout the
United States on June 30, 1999. In addition to those held
in Indian Country jails, most were in state or federal
prison (12,858) or county jails (5,200). Overall, federal
and state prison and jail authorities held 797 Indians per
100,000 Indians in the U.S. resident population, compared to
682 incarcerated persons per 100,000 residents in the
general U.S. population.
During the one-month period from June 1 through June
30, 1999, the facilities admitted 8,147 persons and
discharged 7,744.
Among the adults held on June 30, 1999, 84 percent were
male and 16 percent were female. There were 267 juveniles
in custody, 20 of whom were being held as adults.
Deaths among the Indian inmate population dropped from
seven in 1998 to zero in 1999. Attempted suicides were also
down, from 133 in 1998
to 103 in 1999.
Most Indian Country facilities hold fewer than 50
inmates, with 19 holding fewer than 10. At midyear 1999,
the largest facility, the Tohono O'odham Detention Center in
Arizona, held 98 inmates, with the second largest, the
Sacaton Adult Detention Center, holding 86. The ten largest
facilities, which housed 40 percent of all inmates in Indian
country, were all located in Arizona.
The Navajo Nation has the largest number of jails and
detention centers, two juvenile and six adult facilities.
Combined, the eight facilities were holding 200 inmates on
June 30, 1999, with the capacity to hold 206 persons. The
Gila River Indian Community's three facilities had the
largest number of beds (230). The tribe's three facilities
housed 202 inmates.
On the most crowded day in June 1999, jails in Indian
country were operating at 108 percent of capacity, down from
115 percent in 1998. Small facilities reported the highest
occupancy rates. On their most crowded day in June,
occupancy was 161 percent of capacity in jails designed to
hold fewer than 10 inmates, 155 percent in those rated to
hold 10 to 24 inmates. Fort Berthold Agency in North Dakota,
Pine Ridge Correctional facility in South Dakota, and the
Navajo Department of Corrections-Tuba City in Arizona held
three times the number of inmates the facility was designed
to hold. Eleven facilities were under a court order or
consent decree in 1999 restricting the maximum number of
offenders held in custody.
Most facilities (two-thirds) offered drug or alcohol
treatment programs, a quarter offered educational or
employment programs.
Sixty-seven of the 69 Indian facilities reported the
need for staff training, 66 reported needing additional
correctional officers, 60 said they needed to modify space
or acquire new equipment and 59 wanted additional
drug and alcohol treatment programs.
The report, "Jails in Indian Country, 1998 and 1999"
(NCJ-173410), was written by BJS statistician Paula M.
Ditton. Single copies may be obtained from the BJS
fax-on-demand system by dialing 301/519-5550, listening to
the complete menu and selecting document number 208. Or
call the BJS clearinghouse at 1-800-732-3277. Fax orders
for mail delivery to 410/492-4358. After 4:30 p.m. July 9
the full report may be obtained from the BJS Internet site
at:
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs
Additional criminal justice materials can be obtained
from the Office of Justice Programs Website at:
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov
# # #
State, tribal affiliation, and location of jails in Indian country
Location of Location of
State and tribal affiliation facility State and tribal affiliation facility
Alaska New Mexico
Metlakatla Indian Community Metlakatla Jicarilla Apache Tribe Dulce
Laguna Pueblo Laguna
Arizona Mescalero Apache Tribe Mescalero
Colorado River Indian Tribes Parker Navajo Nation Crownpoint
Fort Mohave Indian Tribe Mohave Valley Navajo Nation Shiprock
Gila River Indian Community Sacaton Navajo Nation Tohatchi
Hopi Tribe Keams Canyon Ramah Navajo Ramah
Hualapai, Havasupai, Prescott Springs Taos Pueblo Taos
and Tonto Apache Zuni Pueblo Zuni
Navajo Nation Window Rock
Navajo Nation Tuba City North Dakota
Navajo Nation Kayenta Three Affilliated Tribes of Fort New Town
Navajo Nation Chinle Berthold Reservation
Pascua Yaqui Tribe Tucson Turtle Mountain Chippewa Tribe Belcourt
Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community Scottsdale Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe Fort Totten
San Carols Apache Tribe San Carlos Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Fort Yates
Supai Tribe Supai
Tohono O'odham Nation Sells Oklahoma
White Mountain Apache Tribe Whiteriver Sac and Fox Nation Stroud
Oregon
Colorado BIA Law Enforcement Services Salem
Southern Ute Tribe Ignacio Warm Springs Confederated Tribes Warm Springs
Ute Mountain Ute Tribe Towaoc
South Dakota
Idaho Crow Creek Sioux Tribe Fort Thompson
Shoshone-Bannock Tribe Fort Hall Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Eagle Butte
Lower Brule Sioux Tribe Lower Brule
Minnesota Oglala Sioux Tribe Kyle
Red Lake Chippewa Tribe Red Lake Oglala Sioux Tribe Pine Ridge
Rosebud Sioux Tribe Rosebud
Mississippi Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe Agency Village
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians Philadelphia
Utah
Montana Northern Ute Tribe Ft. Duchesne
Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes Poplar
Blackfeet Tribe Browning Washington
Chippewa-Cree Tribe Box Elder Confederated Tribes of Yakama Toppenish
Nation
Confederated Tribes of Salish and Kootenai Pablo Makah Indian Tribe Neah Bay
Crow Tribe Crow Agency Puyallup Tribe Tacoma
Gros Ventre and Assiniboine Tribe Harlem Quinault Tribe Taholah
Northern Cheyenne Tribe Lame Deer Spokane Tribe Wellpinit
Nebraska Wisconsin
Omaha Tribe Macy Menominee Indian Tribe Keshena
Nevada Wyoming
Shoshone-Paiute Tribes Owyhee Shoshone and Arapahoe Tribe Fort Washakle
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BJS00160 (K)
After hours contact: Stu Smith at 301/983-9354Date Published: July 9, 2000