US Department of Justice Announces More Than $82 Million in Public Safety Funding to NM Area Tribal Communities

Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli announced in a statement released today that the Department of Justice is awarding $82.29 million in Recovery Act and FY09 public safety funding to criminal justice initiatives in seven tribal jurisdictions throughout New Mexico and Navajo Nation. The vital support to Indian Country includes more than $81 million administered by the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) to construct and renovate prisons and jails, enhance and improve the juvenile justice systems and create and/or enhance sex offender registry and notification programs. The funds also include more than $1.2 million administered by the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) to combat violent crime against Indian women and support victims services. Click for details (pdf).

The Associate Attorney General is in Albuquerque for the second of two working sessions with tribal leadership and law enforcement experts leading up to the Attorney General’s Tribal Nations Listening Conference on October 28-29, 2009, part of an ongoing Justice Department initiative to increase engagement, coordination and action on tribal justice in Indian Country.

“This week’s session is another step forward, but we have many steps to go in what I know will be a long partnership with tribal communities as the Department of Justice continues to take action on public safety issues in Indian Country," said Associate Attorney General Perrelli. “None of these resources will matter if we do not direct them properly and at the issues that matter. The Department may be able to provide funding, but only by working together can we make sure tribal communities get what they need.”

In addition to the local grants, the Department of Justice also awarded more than $224 million in Recovery Act funding to construct and renovate prisons and jails in Indian Country nationwide and nearly $12 million to enhance and improve the juvenile justice systems for American Indian and Alaskan Native youth throughout the country.