BIA director faults management for jails

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)