The Pueblo of Santa Ana’s new Public Safety and Judicial Complex, which was nearly a decade in the making, opened for business Friday morning.
The 20,000-square-foot, $15.5 million facility, located at 11 West Prairie Star Road near the intersection of U.S. highways 550 and 528 on the Santa Ana Pueblo, will house the Santa Ana Police Department and tribal courts operation.
State Rep. Derrick Lente, state Sen. Benny Shendo Jr., Cabinet Secretary for the New Mexico Indian Affairs Department Josett Monette and Santa Ana Pueblo Gov. Myron Armijo joined tribal leaders, and police and sheriff’s officers on the pueblo for a celebratory ribbon cutting.
“After nearly 10 years of planning and construction through multiple Santa Ana Pueblo tribal administrations, we are thrilled to announce the opening of the new Santa Ana Pueblo Public Safety and Judicial Complex,” Armijo said. “It is designed to improve public safety of the pueblo, provide safe and secure facilities for the police, judges and courtrooms, and offer protected private areas needed by members of our community. We planned the new complex to fulfill the growing needs of our pueblo, while preparing for the future of the Tamayame people.”
Armijo thanked New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Lente and Shendo for helping the pueblo secure capital outlay funding and Tribal Infrastructure Funds to plan and construct the complex, which sits on a five-acre parcel of land next to the pueblo’s fire station. The new location will allow for faster responses to the areas of the pueblo with the most emergency response requests.
“This is a beautiful building that I hope I am never summoned to. It is wonderful,” Lente said. “We worked together to make sure that we can protect one another. We make sure that our communities have the essential necessities, through staff, through infrastructure, through policies, through practices, to protect our people. And, in this day and age, it takes buildings, it takes the money, it takes the staffing, to protect our communities.”
The facility symbolizes tribal sovereignty and community protection, according to Armijo.
“This is a place where everyone entering will be treated with honor and respect,” Armijo said.