Navajo Nation funding new jails, courts

FARMINGTON, N.M. (AP) - The Navajo Nation tribal council has approved a $60 million loan that will fund public safety and judicial complexes across the sprawling reservation.

In Shiprock, construction calls for a complex that will house police, courts and a jail.

Upper Fruitland tribal delegate LoRenzo Bates says judicial complexes and jails across the reservation are falling into disrepair.

The Tuba City, Ariz., facility was condemned. Other complexes - most of them former Bureau of Indian Affairs buildings - have stood for at least 30 years without renovations.

The $60 million loan complements $74 million in federal stimulus funds to build jails on the reservation.

About 50,000 people are arrested each year across the 27,000-square-mile reservation, but currently only 59 jail beds exist.

---

Information from: The Daily Times