Management, not rank and file employees, are to blame for deficiencies in Indian Country jails, the director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs said.
Pat Ragsdale was in Billings, Montana, for a BIA corrections conference. He said the agency is still addressing issues raised by an Inspector General's investigation into detention facilities.
"That was an indictment of the management; that was not an indictment of the rank and file who serve every day," Ragsdale told The Billings Gazette.
In Montana, the detention center on the Blackfeet Nation was considered one of the worst. The Blackfeet Nation has relinquished control of the facility to the BIA.
Get the Story:
BIA boss confident despite hurdles
(The Billings Gazette 7/26)
Inspector General Final Jail Report:
Text
| PDF
Inspector General Interim Jail Report:
Text
| PDF
Department of Justice Jail Reports:
Year
2002 | Year
2001 | Year
2000 | Years
1998-1999
Related Stories:
Senate Indian Affairs hearing on law enforcement
(5/17)
Senate hearing this week on law enforcement
(5/14)
Criminals get out of jail for free on Navajo Nation
(5/7)
A 'revolving door' for
criminals on Navajo Nation (5/4)
Navajo
Nation approves emergency jail funds (5/2)
Navajo Nation Council OKs emergency jail funds
(4/18)
Blackfeet Nation to relinquish
detention center (04/04)
Oglala Sioux Tribe to open
new jail this week (02/26)
DOJ budget
slashes funds for tribal courts and jails (02/07)
BIA budget targets youth with new initiatives
(2/6)
Northern Cheyenne woman lied about
rape at BIA jail (12/15)
Red Lake Nation
sues for unfunded juvenile jail (12/06)
Treatment of Native inmates a 'national
disgrace' (10/17)
Jail on reservation
set to open after upgrades (09/21)
Puyallup Tribe seeks $6.5M for new detention
center (05/08)
Ute Tribe protests
closing of BIA detention facility (03/17)
BIA closes detention center on Utah reservation
(03/02)
Chippewa Cree Tribe to start housing
juveniles (02/08)
Yakama family seeks
$1.7M for death in BIA jail (11/14)
Blackfeet Nation seeks probe of BIA jail abuses
(11/8)
Figures show drop in Indian
Country jail population (10/25)
Mother
sues BIA over teen's suicide attempt at jail (09/16)
Troubled tribal jail facility said to be
closing (02/16)
Navajo Nation jail
catches fire, escape at another (01/21)
Lawsuit filed over teen's suicide at BIA jail
(12/02)
Data shows little change in BIA jail
population (11/08)
Tribes could issue
tax-free bonds for jails under bill (10/08)
Editorial: Treatment of Indian youth a horror
(10/5)
Indian youth cite mistreatment at
reservation jail (10/5)
BIA accused of
mismanaging detention facilities (10/5)
FBI probes death at Rocky Boy's Reservation jail
(10/5)
Editorial: Indian Country jails a
national disgrace (10/4)
BIA
investigating suicide at Yakama Nation jail (08/06)
Justice bill shifts priorities in Indian Country
(8/4)
Jails on Navajo Nation among worst
in BIA system (07/08)
Interim Indian
Country jail report released (7/2)
Senate panel holds hearing on detention
facilities (06/24)
Indian Country jails
subject of Senate hearing (06/21)
BIA
law enforcement official returns to South Dakota (6/9)
BIA: Law enforcement head offered to be
reassigned (06/03)
Top BIA law
enforcement official reassigned (6/2)
Funding levels flat in new Interior budget
(02/03)
Overcrowding in Indian Country
jails the norm (12/02)
Tribes
lobbying against 'harmful' appropriations riders (11/10)
Indian Country jails see record
growth (09/05)
Indian Country
jails see increased numbers (8/13)
Behind Bars: Native incarceration rates
increase (7/13)
BIA audit slams
Omaha Tribe's police force (5/8)
New study focuses on jails (7/10)
Advertisement
Tags
Trending in News
1 White House Council on Native American Affairs meets quick demise under Donald Trump
2 'A process of reconnecting': Young Lakota actor finds ways to stay tied to tribal culture
3 Jenni Monet: Bureau of Indian Affairs officer on leave after fatal shooting of Brandon Laducer
4 'A disgraceful insult': Joe Biden campaign calls out Navajo leader for Republican speech
5 Kaiser Health News: Sisters from Navajo Nation died after helping coronavirus patients
2 'A process of reconnecting': Young Lakota actor finds ways to stay tied to tribal culture
3 Jenni Monet: Bureau of Indian Affairs officer on leave after fatal shooting of Brandon Laducer
4 'A disgraceful insult': Joe Biden campaign calls out Navajo leader for Republican speech
5 Kaiser Health News: Sisters from Navajo Nation died after helping coronavirus patients
More Headlines
Tim Giago: A disease that ravages Indian Country and America
EPA unveils Western office to focus on abandoned mine tracking, cleanup
Following McGirt decision, Oneida Nation case continues string of Indigenous court victories
Clara Caufield: Enduring the COVID Pandemic
Native Sun News Today: Authorities target traffickers during Sturgis rally
Elizabeth Cook-Lynn: A state of war?
Native Sun News Today: 'Sovereignty is Real'
Native youth navigate complex, contradictory jurisdictions
President of Oglala Sioux Tribe suspended ahead of impeachment hearing
'A process of reconnecting': Young Lakota actor finds ways to stay tied to tribal culture
White House Council on Native American Affairs meets quick demise under Donald Trump
Tribes, Nevada Guard combine efforts for COVID-19 testing
More Headlines
EPA unveils Western office to focus on abandoned mine tracking, cleanup
Following McGirt decision, Oneida Nation case continues string of Indigenous court victories
Clara Caufield: Enduring the COVID Pandemic
Native Sun News Today: Authorities target traffickers during Sturgis rally
Elizabeth Cook-Lynn: A state of war?
Native Sun News Today: 'Sovereignty is Real'
Native youth navigate complex, contradictory jurisdictions
President of Oglala Sioux Tribe suspended ahead of impeachment hearing
'A process of reconnecting': Young Lakota actor finds ways to stay tied to tribal culture
White House Council on Native American Affairs meets quick demise under Donald Trump
Tribes, Nevada Guard combine efforts for COVID-19 testing
More Headlines