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    Lawmakers question Interior Dept.'s awarding of contract to review tribal jail deaths

    Lawmakers are pushing for a "do-over" of an Interior Department contract to review tribal jail deaths awarded to a former official. Nearly half of the deaths he was to review occurred on his watch.
    by Nate Hegyi Feb 10, 2022 6 minutes
    Federal lawmakers are pushing for a "do-over" of a contract, awarded by the Interior Department, to a former administrator to review deaths at tribal jails. Nearly half of those deaths happened on his watch.

    Federal lawmakers are calling for an inquiry into the Interior Department's handling of a contract that was awarded to a former administrator to review deaths at tribal jails, nearly half of which happened on his watch.

    It comes after NPR and the Mountain West News Bureau published a story earlier this week that found the department's former top cop, Darren Cruzan, and his company, landed an $83,000 contract to review 16 in-custody deaths at tribal detention centers overseen by the Interior Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs.

    The in-custody deaths review was sparked by an NPR and Mountain West News Bureau investigation published in June that found a pattern of neglect and misconduct that led to the inmate deaths.

    Rep. RaĂşl Grijalva, D-Ariz., chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee that oversees the Interior Department, said Thursday that he is requesting an inquiry into the decision to award the contract to Cruzan's consulting group and urging a "do-over" of

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