Law | National

Native Sun News: Group aims to reduce number of Native inmates

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

The following story was written and reported by Richie Richards, Native Sun News Staff Writer. All content © Native Sun News.

The jail in Pennington County, South Dakota. Photo from Pennington County

Safety and Justice planning meets with OST leaders
By Richie Richards
Native Sun News Staff Writer

RAPID CITY –– In May, Pennington County was the recipient of a $150,000 grant awarded by the MacArthur Foundation as part of a larger initiative to examine, assess, and institute changes in local jails across the country.

Pennington County was chosen out of 200 applicants from 45 states along with 20 other cities nationally. The grant is part of the Safety & Justice Challenge which intends to bring positive solutions to the imbalance of minority groups incarcerated in jails.

Sheriff Kevin Thom of Pennington County co-chairs the Safety & Justice Planning Committee along with Judge Jeff Davis. The committee was formed through appointment with currently 15 members.

The S&J Planning Committee consists of: Kevin Thom – Sheriff, Jeff Davis – Circuit Judge, Troy Carr – Faith Temple, Tracey Decker – Deputy States Attorney, Alecia Fuller – Assistant Public Defender, Karl Jegeris – Police Chief RCPD, Heide Linngren – Circuit Judge, Brian Mueller – Chief Deputy Sheriff’s Office, Jeff Norris – Chief Court Services Officer, Tom Raymond – Oglala Lakota College, Richie Richards – Native Sun News, Barry Tice – Director of Health & Human Services, Mark Vargo – States Attorney, Eric Whitcher – Public Defender, and Steven Yellow Hawk – Sioux San & HeSapa Powwow.

This group will form a plan of action and submit a proposal by the end of the year for eligibility for the second phase of the Challenge; in which 10 of the original 20 cities/counties will be selected for a larger grant for implementation of plans worth $500,000 to $2,000,000 to be decided in Feb. 2016.

Pennington County Correctional facilities are disproportionately filled with Native American inmates who are there for pre-trial incarceration, serving a sentence, child-support cases, and unable to make bond to name a few reasons. The goal would be to reduce the number of incarcerations for minorities in jail.

As part of the Challenge, monitors are being sent to the 20 cities participating in the collective studies. During the week of June 22, Pennington hosted a two-person technical assistance team who are part of the Justice Management Institute (JMI) out of Arlington, Va.
Kent Mortimore and Aimee Wickman were here representing JMI for an initial meeting with city/county stakeholders in law enforcement, judiciary and prosecution offices, as well as community representatives (3 Native Americans and 1 African American).

During this visit, the Safety and Justice representatives were able to sit in on a court session with Judge Heidi Linngren presiding as well as observe the functions of video court and magistrate court.

Important components of the Challenge are assessing the roles of the public defender and state’s attorney’s offices. During their visit, Mortimore and Wickman were in close contact with Alecia Fuller and Eric Whitcher of the public defender’s office as well as state’s attorney Mark Vargo.

The outside monitors were able to meet with personnel from the Clerk of Court’s office and Jeff Norris, the Chief Court Services Officer.

The Director of the County Health & Human Services, Barry Tice, was able to show them services provided in the Rebound Program and tour the City/County Alcohol and Drug Program facilities.

On Wednesday, June 24, the Safety and Justice Planning Committee were able to take Mortimore and Wickman for a visit to the Justice Center in Pine Ridge.

During the meeting with Tribal Stakeholders in the tribal criminal justice system. S&J members were welcomed for a meeting of inter-agency communication and discussion of concerns of each of the departments represented.

OST DPS Chief Eugenio White Hawk was on hand to conduct the meeting. Tribal representative in attendance included but not limited to; John Mousseau Sr., Buzz Youngman, Olivia Hudspeth, Maria Red Owl, Jean Whirl Wind Horse, Jim Running Shield, Donna Sullivan, Monica Turkelso, and Richard Greenwald.

At this meeting in Pine Ridge, the Challenge’s technical assistants and Rapid City/Pennington County authorities were made aware of certain aspects of the challenges faced by law enforcement and tribal courts on the reservation.

Oglala Lakota County has recently been named amongst the deadliest counties in the United States and there is a major shortage in law enforcement officers for the reservation. Crime rates in Rapid City are directly related to the lack of funding for law enforcement on the reservation.

Both agencies agreed that drug treatment is a major component in the overall progressive discussion.

Suggestions of how the tribe and city/county can work together in the future were discussed and will be revealed in future reports.

The Safety and Justice Challenge is an opportunity for Rapid City to openly examine and assess the needs of the community so Native American men and women will not just sit behind bars for petty crimes and violations. One of the major ideas discussed was the use of electronic monitoring (ankle bracelets) as a means for behavior deterrence.

A public meeting is planned for later this summer in which citizens of the reservation and Rapid City will be able to voice concerns and hear the progress up to that point.

The JMI technical assistants will be back in Rapid City on July 20 for a second round of meetings and receive feedback of the S&J Planning Committee’s progress.

If you would like more information regarding the Safety and Justice Challenge, go to www.safetyandjusticechallenge.org.