Colville Confederated Tribes Plan To Build Prison Justice Department Provides $4.5 Million Grant For Nespelem Facility

Fri., Oct. 15, 1999

Rob Mcdonald The Associated Press Contributed To T Staff writer

The Colville Confederated Tribes plan to build a new prison in Nespelem with a $4.5 million grant from the Justice Department.

The Colville Justice Center is one of seven prisons to be built around the country as part of an $89 million federal package to help fight high crime rates among American Indians. Crime rates among Indians are twice as high as for whites, Attorney General Janet Reno announced Wednesday.

The grants went to 144 tribes in 26 states and will pay for hiring, equipping and training police officers, building new jails and starting other anti-crime programs.

The Colville Tribes also received $493,000 for officers and equipment. The Nez Perce Tribe in Idaho received $260,500 for officers and equipment.

The Colville Justice Center will hold men and women - 48 adult offenders and 16 juveniles - in a complex on 70 acres in Nespelem.

Colleen Cawston, chairwoman of the Colville Business Council, released a statement that said the center will provide assistance to tribal members in a manner that reflects the tribes’ traditions, culture and way of life.

Construction is planned to begin next year and should create many jobs in the criminal justice and rehabilitation fields.

Justice Department statistics show that between 1992 and 1996, 124 of every 1,000 American Indians over age 12 were the victims of a violent crime. The rate was 61 per 1,000 blacks, 49 per 1,000 whites and 29 per 1,000 Asians.

U.S. Congressman Doc Hastings of the 4th District supported the Colville tribes’ application for the grant.

The Justice Department launched the program at the direction of President Clinton to bring law enforcement up to adequate standards and improve the quality of life in Indian country.

Tribes getting large shares of money in addition to the Colvilles include South Dakota’s Oglala Sioux Tribe, at $7.5 million; Montana’s Northern Cheyenne Nation, at $4.6 million, and New Mexico’s Zuni Pueblo, at nearly $4 million.

The program provides for construction of seven reservation jails at a cost of more than $24 million. That includes about $6 million each for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe of South Dakota and the Native Village of Barrow, Alaska.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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