Across the country, Native Americans experience high rates of recidivism.
Just over a decade ago, 79% of American Indians and Alaska Natives released from incarceration across the country would violate parole or re-offend within the next 5 years. Utah was on par with those statistics.
To address that, Utah’s federal courts came up with the Tribal Community Reentry Court. Now the state’s rate is just 6% on Utah’s portion of the Navajo Nation. It’s been so successful other states have implemented similar programs.
The program started nine years ago in Aneth, a remote town on the Navajo Nation in southeast Utah. Brandon Eddie has lived in the area since he was 15, and he loves being part of a tight knit community.
“I’ve made some lifelong friends,” he said. “They’re in my inbox every day saying good morning to me.”
Life here comes with its challenges, especially if you get caught up with the law. Any crime committed on the reservation that could result in a sentence of a year or longer is tried in federal court. That leads to longer sentences. It also means court appearances and access to many rehabilitative services are six hours away in Salt Lake City.
Eddie was convicted of involuntary manslaughter after he hit a motorcyclist while driving while intoxicated in 2019. He’s been out of prison for almost a year now.
“Everything’s still different to me right now, and I’m still slowly traversing into it all, being adjusted to everything again.”
But he’s had support. Magistrate Judge Dustin Pead said the program on the Navajo Nation started with an important change.
“It would be the first reentry court that we had heard of that would actually travel to people instead of people having to travel to the court.”
Every month Pead, a defense attorney and a prosecutor travel to Aneth. They offer encouragement to parolees when things are going well and are able to respond quickly when they aren’t.
“I want them to have trust that we want them to grow. I’m not waiting to catch them in a violation,” the judge said. “So for me, that's frequently calling them by their first name. Giving accolades, knowing them, knowing their family, communicating with their family during court.”
Arizona and Wyoming are using Utah as a model for implementing similar programs.
Arizona’s started after Senior Probation Officer Matthew Cary visited Utah’s reentry court in 2019. After delays from COVID, their program started in December 2021. Cary said they’ve already seen employment rates increase among the program’s graduates. He said “making the trip 2.5 hours out to where we hold the court in Tinley,” is really appreciated.
Wyoming followed in December 2023. They’re modeling off of the programs in Arizona and Utah, as well as “making some changes to address our local needs,” according to Paul Ricketts, chief U.S. Probation Officer for Wyoming. This includes involving Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho council members in the court as well.
Many of the parolees in Utah’s reentry program see its focus on community and connection as the reason for its success. That goes beyond the monthly court.
William Jones was in prison for 2.5 years for possessing child pornography, starting in 2018. He’s been part of tribal reentry court since he was released in 2022 and said it has helped to be surrounded by people recovering and reforming their lives.
Court is held in a room full of people, who speak openly to Judge Pead one by one.
“I sit there and listen, and they listen to mine, too,” Jones said. “So at the same time, you know, you try to rehabilitate yourself and they're helping.”
Treatment options on the reservation and embedded in Navajo culture are also available.
Traditional counselor and healer Ernest Begay works with people in the reentry court. They visit him in a traditional Hogan in Aneth, often with family members they’re working to heal relationships with after being away for long periods of time.
Begay said he helps by “getting to the core of why they acted the way they did, which caused them to go to prison.” Then he leads “corrective ceremonies for those situations, and have them get out of it.”
In between court dates, parole officers check in often. They build trust and learn about the parolees’ lives. That includes extenuating circumstances that could lead to slip ups in employment of treatment attendance.
Parole officer Cordell Wilson has been working on the reservation since 2003 and is based five-and-a-half hours away in St. George. He used to only have time to visit every three months or so, in response to something going wrong.
“I would be out there more or less wagging my fingers saying ‘Hey, you know, you need to do this.’”
Then, violations tended to lead to court summons to Salt Lake City — dragging out the process over months. Now, Wilson and Pead are able to respond quickly, with intermediate punishments like short stays in jail.
Brandon Eddie said the program made him feel like he’s on the same team as his judge and probation officer. He laughed as he remembered conversations with Wilson.
“Sometimes it just seems like we're just talking as friends, you know? And then that’s when I’m like, ‘Well, that's all I got for you today.’”
During his probation, Eddie has maintained sobriety, has a job and is looking forward to sticking around to raise his four daughters at home on the Navajo Nation.
