Ak-Chin break ground on justice complex

The Ak-Chin Indian Community broke ground for its new multipurpose justice center Wednesday morning marking what Chairman Louis J. Manuel Jr. called “a great step for the community.”

The facility, scheduled to open in January 2014, will house nearly every facet the community’s justice system, including courts, the prosecution and public defender’s offices, the detention center and the police department.

Ak-Chin Police Chief Manuel W. Garcia cautioned against thinking of the complex as a place of punishment.

“Don’t think of this as just a jail,” Garcia said. “Think of it as a point of transition for some people.”

Garcia pointed out that “everyone makes mistakes” and even though some may enter the complex under negative circumstances, it would also offer many people a chance to start over.

Karen Fierro, a member of a core committee appointed in 2008 tasked with moving the project forward, said the idea for a multipurpose justice center was first planted in 1996.

Pointing out hers was not the first committee to work on the project; Fierro said she was happy to see “all that hard work and dedication becoming a reality.”

The center was designed with the input of 15 other tribes the committee consulted with to gather information about the “dos and don’ts of the justice system.”

“We took that advice seriously,” Fierro said, adding, “This building is for you.”

Judge Anthony Little of the Ak-Chin Tribal Court also acknowledged the importance of the facility to the community.