Director's Corner

Deputy Director     

William Patrick (Pat) Ragsdale, an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, was appointed Deputy Bureau Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs- Office of Justice Services on September 16, 2007, where he oversees the BIA's law enforcement, detention facilities, and tribal courts functions. Prior to his appointment, he had served as the Director of the BIA since February 13, 2005. He came to the BIA's headquarters from Albuquerque, N.M., where he had been serving since February 2004 as Director for Trust Review and Audit within the Department's Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians (OST).

Mr. Ragsdale's career as a public servant spans over 35 years beginning in 1967 as a BIA teacher in Concho, Oklahoma. He rose through the ranks holding several key BIA program and managerial positions in the field and at the Bureau’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., including Acting Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs in 1989; Deputy to the Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs for Operations during the Reagan Administration; Special Assistant to the Deputy Commissioner of the BIA; Anadarko (Oklahoma) Area Director; Assistant Area Director for Trust Responsibilities, Phoenix Area Office; Superintendent, Unita and Ouray Agency, Fort Duschene, Utah; Superintendent Intern, Phoenix Area; Tribal Government Officer, Navajo-Hopi Joint Use Area, Flagstaff, Arizona; and Tribal Operations Specialist, Muskogee (Oklahoma) Area Office.

In December 1993, Mr. Ragsdale retired from Federal service to work for his tribe, the Cherokee Nation, in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. From 1993 to 1998 he served as Director of the Cherokee Nation Marshal Service. He went on to serve as Executive Director of Government Resources for the tribe from 1999 to January 2004.

His career in Federal service also includes active duty service from 1969 to 1972 in the United States Marine Corps. He was honorably discharged at the rank of Captain.