dbryce@journalnet.com

FORT HALL - The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes and Bureau of Indian Affairs officials signed two contracts Wednesday paving the way for the tribes to receive operations support for its new $19.7 million Justice Center, due to open in February.

"This is a very historic day for the tribes - it's been a long time coming," said James Glaze, legal counsel for the Tribes. "The tribes are truly taking control of their own justice systems."

While the exact funding amounts the tribes will receive from the BIA have yet to be determined, the contract acknowledges the BIA's commitment to providing significant recurring funding for operations and maintenance at the new facility.

"This (Business Council) is progressive and on a fast track to get the justice center completed. They are going to set standards for other tribes wanting a justice center," said BIA Special Agent Matthew W. Pryor.

At a signing ceremony Wednesday, Fort Hall Business Council Vice Chairman Nathan Small said "serious" discussions about the construction of a new Justice Center began two decades ago when it became apparent that the tribal jail was inadequate.

The BIA later told the tribes that their police, jail and court facilities were in poor condition and should be vacated.

Small said because the BIA has a trust responsibility to tribes to provide law enforcement services, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes hoped that the agency would be able to come through with some financial support despite the chronic underfunding the BIA receives from Congress.

When federal funding never materialized, the Tribes obtained a $15.9 million loan from the Native American Bank last year. Along with $4 million in seed money set aside a decade ago, construction at the Justice Center started in June.

"It's taken us 20 years and a lot of frustrations but we're finally close to making this center a reality. With the help of the BIA, we hope to make our Justice Center the best of its kind in the West," said Small.

Majel Russell, with Elk River Law, a legal consultant for the Tribes, said the BIA agreed to provide start up and operational costs based on what it would have cost to construct and maintain a new detention facility for 25 adult inmates, the facility size the federal agency determined necessary for the Fort Hall Reservation.

The BIA is also working on an agreement to lease about one-third of the corrections space and a majority of the law enforcement space in the Justice Center as a means for the Tribes to recoup construction costs, Russell said.

The center's detention facilities will house 80 adults and juveniles and the Tribes are still exploring opportunities to generate revenue by filling the additional 60 adult beds. Earlier this year, the tribes proposed that the BIA designate the justice center as a regional detention facility for tribes.