Assistant Secretary Larry Echo Hawk said he has created a new job for Jeanette Hanna despite acknowledging she was under investigation as regional director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs office in Eastern Oklahoma.

Hanna, a member of the Seminole Nation, was named to the regional director post in May 2002. She was placed on leave in November 2009 and has been on detail to the BIA's central office in Washington, D.C., for an unusually lengthy period of time.

"She was detailed to Washington D.C. because there were some allegations against her," Echo Hawk told The Tulsa World.

The nature of the investigation and any results, if any, have not been made public. BIA officials won't discuss Hanna's case but Echo Hawk said she has been offered a new job within the agency.

"We are trying to create a permanent position for her," Echo Hawk told the World. "We've already approved that ourselves, but it has to be approved by the ... executive review board with the Department of the Interior."

The BIA, meanwhile, is moving to hire a permanent regional director for Eastern Oklahoma after more than two and a half years. A job listing was posted on USA Jobs on Friday

Get the Story:
BIA to hire regional director for Oklahoma; post unattended since 2009 (The Tulsa World 4/2)

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