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OJS

Office of Justice Services

Division of Corrections

Topic

Indian Country Corrections is one of the key components of Tribal Justice Systems. There are over 90 detention centers throughout Indian Country, of which, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Office of Justice Services (OJS) staffs and operates a quarter of these facilities. The remainder are operated by Tribes through the PL 93-638, Self-Governance Compacts and a few are fully funded and operated by a tribe. Indian Country facilities are either long or short term holding facilities. Each facility is unique in operation and location.

District VII

Topic

District VII’s Headquarters Office is located in Bloomington, Minnesota. It is staffed with a Special Agent in Charge (SAC), Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC), Corrections Program Specialist, and a Program Analyst. Until 2012, District VII was part of District I and was supervised by the Special Agent in Charge in Aberdeen, South Dakota. In 2012, BIA-OJS split District I into two parts, the eastern part becoming the newly formed District VII

District III

Topic

The District III Offices oversee BIA and Tribal law enforcement departments encompassed within Arizona, Nevada, and Utah. The law enforcement agencies and partnerships created in District III provide law enforcement, investigations, dispatch services, and corrections services for a wide range of geographic areas from the high desert of Northern Nevada to the bottom of Grand Canyon to the vast basin of Eastern Utah.

District II

Topic

District II is currently staffed with several Special Agents to conduct investigations. These investigators are divided between rural and urban service areas with considerable distances between areas of responsibility due to the checkerboard jurisdictions.

District2 Webpage with 2 uniform officers

OJS Director's Corner

Jason Thompson, Acting

“I have appointed a police, whose duty it is to report to me if they know of anything that is wrong.”

With those words, in 1869 Thomas Lightfoot, United States Indian Agent to the Iowa and the Sac and Fox tribes in Nebraska, became the first agent to report to a Federally-sponsored Indian police agency and thus, our very humble beginning. Since that time, our tactics and equipment have changed a great deal, but our commitment to serving our communities has remained strong.

Meet the BIA-OJS Command Staff

BIA-OJS Headquarters - Executive Staff


HQ Executive Staff

Associate Director Audrey Sessions, Assistant Director Jason Thompson, Director Darren Cruzan, Associate Director David Little and Associate Director Steve Juneau.;

Meet the BIA-OJS Command Staff

Who We Are

Summary of the Office of Justice Services

BIA- OJS is responsible for the protection of lives, resources, and property which lies at the heart of the BIA's law enforcement effort. BIA-OJS fully supports the Secretary's ongoing commitment to safe and healthy Indian communities. Under the direction of the Deputy BIA Director - Office of Justice Services, the Office of Justice Services (OJS) is responsible for the overall management of the Bureau's law enforcement program.

OJS Assistant Director

Jason Thompson, web pic
Jason Thompson
Jason Thompson, an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, became the Assistant Director of the Office of Justice Services in May of 2011.
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