Bureau of Indian Affairs
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BIA
Division of Corrections
Topic
Indian Country Corrections is one of the key components of Tribal Justice Systems. There are over 90 detention centers throughout Indian Country, of which, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Office of Justice Services (OJS) staffs and operates a quarter of these facilities. The remainder are operated by Tribes through the PL 93-638, Self-Governance Compacts and a few are fully funded and operated by a tribe. Indian Country facilities are either long or short term holding facilities. Each facility is unique in operation and location.
District IX
Topic
District IX is located at the Department of Interior in Sacramento, California, and was established in 2012. Prior to 2012, issues facing tribal law enforcement in California, was handled through the BIA-OJS District III Office in Phoenix, AZ. However, with the positive progression of the California Tribes and their desire to implement their own police departments, and pursue Deputation Agreements which would allow tribal officers to be issued Special Law Enforcement Commissions (SLEC), it was decided there was a need for a new district.
District VIII
Topic
District VIII interacts with a number of Tribal Law Enforcement Programs in the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Western Montana, and Alaska. District VIII covers a very diverse area from the foot of the Rocky Mountains to Coastal Villages, all the way to Annette Island in Alaska. The Tribal Police Departments in District VIII are as diverse as the area we cover.
District VII
Topic
District VII’s Headquarters Office is located in Bloomington, Minnesota. It is staffed with a Special Agent in Charge (SAC), Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC), Corrections Program Specialist, and a Program Analyst. Until 2012, District VII was part of District I and was supervised by the Special Agent in Charge in Aberdeen, South Dakota. In 2012, BIA-OJS split District I into two parts, the eastern part becoming the newly formed District VII
District VI
Effective May 12, 2019, Terrell Leonard has been appointed and assumed responsibility as the Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Office of Justice Services (OJS) District VI (DVI) Office in Nashville, TN. The DVI Office oversees Indian Country law enforcement operations within the BIA Eastern Region jurisdiction servicing the State of Maine, south to Florida, then west to Louisiana by providing oversight and assistance for BIA OJS programs to 35 federally recognized tribes.
District V
The District V Office oversees the states of Montana and Wyoming. The District Office provides direct services to four Tribes within the Rocky Mountain Region, as well as, technical assistance to three P.L. 638 programs, one Self-Governance program. The District V Office also houses the following divisions of which Corrections and Victim Assistance fall under the supervision of the Special Agent in Charge: Drug Enforcement Division, Corrections Division, Victim Assistance Division, Tribal Justice Division, Communications Division,
District III
Topic
The District III Offices oversee BIA and Tribal law enforcement departments encompassed within Arizona, Nevada, and Utah. The law enforcement agencies and partnerships created in District III provide law enforcement, investigations, dispatch services, and corrections services for a wide range of geographic areas from the high desert of Northern Nevada to the bottom of Grand Canyon to the vast basin of Eastern Utah.
OJS Director's Corner
Jason Thompson, Acting
“I have appointed a police, whose duty it is to report to me if they know of anything that is wrong.”
With those words, in 1869 Thomas Lightfoot, United States Indian Agent to the Iowa and the Sac and Fox tribes in Nebraska, became the first agent to report to a Federally-sponsored Indian police agency and thus, our very humble beginning. Since that time, our tactics and equipment have changed a great deal, but our commitment to serving our communities has remained strong.
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