Steven W. Perry

December 1, 2005    NCJ 205332

Presents detailed information gathered on tribal law enforcement agencies, tribal courts and services, and criminal record systems from the 2002 Census of Tribal Justice Agencies in American Indian Jurisdictions. This project represents one of several components of BJS' on-going program to improve justice statistics and criminal history record information systems in Indian country. The report includes data on the number of law enforcement agencies and officers; characteristics of tribal courts and their caseloads; types of available criminal sanctions; and criminal justice statistics data collection and sharing capacity. The census collected data from nearly 350 tribes in the continental U.S. and is the first comprehensive effort to identify the range of justice agencies operating in tribal jurisdictions, the services those agencies provide, and the types of information systems maintained.

Highlights:

• 165 of the 314 responding tribes employed 1 or more full-time sworn officers with general arrest powers.
• An estimated 59% (188) of the 314 tribes had some form of judicial system.
• About 23% (71) of the responding tribes provided their own detention function. About two-thirds relied on local or county agencies to provide a jail or detention facility.

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Spreadsheet (Zip format 60K)
2002 Census of Tribal Justice Agencies in Indian Country Data File (Spreadsheet 350K)
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