Discussions Held Regarding Tribal Juvenile Detention

According to a report from Fort Peck tribal executive board member Jestin Dupree, members of the tribal council met with Bureau of Indian Affairs representatives last week to discuss the juvenile detention center situation.

Last October, TEB voted to retrocede the agreement between the juvenile detention center and BIA. The vote gave the juvenile detention center back to the BIA. The juvenile detention center hasn’t been led by BIA since the mid to late 1990s. At that meeting, officials said the juvenile detention center hasn’t been serviceable for more than two years.

During last week’s meeting, one of the BIA representatives said the facility had a lot of damage, there were escape attempts and the fire suppression system needs work. Dupree explained that TEB had asked BIA for financial assistance in the past and instead received information about deficiencies. Dupree said it was frustrating so “our tribe said well if you can’t get us funding to fix the issues we’ll give it back, and that’s where we are today.”

Dupree added that some juveniles are committing crimes knowing there is no punishment behind their actions. One BIA representative said a director is making Fort Peck a priority. She acknowledged that BIA needs to do more. BIA shared that currently they can hold only five juveniles.

Repairs, including fixing the fire suppression system, are being planned. The BIA want to ultimately turn this project back to the Fort Peck Tribes.