Article
Tribal jails are correctional systems maintained by individual tribes and sovereign nations as part of their own Public Safety Departments or Departments of Corrections. As with non-tribal jails, tribal jails are locally-run short-term holding facilities, whereas prisons, at the state and federal levels, are detention centers for those serving longer sentences.
The Navajo system currently maintains several adult and juvenile correctional facilities. The correctional facilities in the Navajo Nation were established under the Navajo government in the 1990’s but there were federally-funded tribal jails built on the reservation in the 1960’s to the 1970’s. New facilities and associated services and infrastructure continue to be built around the reservation, adding to the original tribal jail in Window Rock. Navajo Nation jails can now be found in Tuba City, Crownpoint, and Kayenta, with plans for adding jails in Chinle and Ft. Defiance.
"Inmates enter the new Rio Arriba Detention Center after leaving the old jail, 1991," photograph, Santa Fe New Mexican Collection (HP.2014.14.1237). Palace of the Governors Photo Archive, New Mexico History Museum, Santa Fe.
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References
Fonseca, Felicia
2015 Report: Navajo Nation Wasted $30 Mil in Federal Funds on Jails Bigger than
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2012 Navajo Nation to Hire Correctional Officers for New Jails on Reservation. Indian
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2001 Tribal Law and Order Act (TLOA) Long Term Plan to Build and Enhance Tribal
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Yanjus, David
2012 Three New Navajo Nation Jail Facilities Nearing Completion. Navjo-Hopi Observer.
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