Sandoval County brochure lists tribal liaisons, communities and language support
The county brochure turns tribal outreach into a usable directory, naming liaisons, communities and Navajo, Keres and Towa language help across Sandoval County.
Sandoval County’s tribal liaison brochure reads like a practical access guide, not a ceremonial brochure. It names the staff members who handle tribal outreach, the communities they cover and the language support they offer, giving residents a direct path into county government across multiple jurisdictions and cultures.
Who the county names and where they serve
Evelyn Sandoval is listed as the Navajo and Jicarilla Apache Tribal Liaison. The brochure says she serves the Counselor, Ojo Encino and Torreon/Star Lake Navajo chapters, along with the Jicarilla Apache in Sandoval County, and that she provides translation services in Navajo. That combination matters in a county where chapter boundaries and county boundaries do not always line up cleanly, because it gives Navajo speakers a named county contact who understands both geography and language.
Sheila Herrera is listed as the Keres Tribal Liaison. Her service area includes the Pueblos of Cochiti, Laguna, San Felipe, Santa Ana, Santo Domingo (Kewa) and Zia, and the brochure says she offers translation services in Keres. Tamara Sandia appears in the county’s tribal liaison materials as the Towa Tribal Liaison for the Pueblos of Jemez and Sandia, with translation services in Towa. Together, those assignments show a county trying to match outreach to the specific Pueblo and chapter communities that share Sandoval County’s map.
The brochure also gives residents a way to reach the office without guessing which department to call. Evelyn Sandoval is listed at 505-238-5600, Sheila Herrera at 505-980-6099 and Tamara Sandia at 505-934-8826, with county email addresses also included in the brochure. The tribal liaison office is at 1500 Idalia Road, Building D, Bernalillo, NM 87004, and the mailing address is P.O. Box 40, Bernalillo, NM 87004.
Why the program exists
The county says the tribal liaison program was created to ensure Sandoval County’s Native American population has equal access to all phases of the electoral process. That makes the office more than a general outreach effort, because elections depend on information moving clearly across language and jurisdiction lines. In a county with Navajo chapters and multiple Pueblo communities, that access can affect how residents learn about voting, deadlines and county procedures.
The program is also tied to day-to-day county communication, not just ballots. Sandoval County’s own materials frame the office as part of the outreach infrastructure that helps residents navigate county services, public safety coordination, road issues, emergency communication and community engagement when multiple governments share the same area. A tribal liaison gives people a single point of contact instead of forcing them to work through general county departments that may not know the local tribal context.
Language access is built into that structure. The brochure does not stop at naming communities, it also lists Navajo, Keres and Towa translation support, which is the kind of detail that makes public service usable in practice. In a county where a phone call, a notice or a meeting can be the difference between a quick fix and a long delay, translation support can determine whether residents can actually use the services the county says are available.
How Sandoval County has documented the program
The county has presented the Tribal Liaison Program to policymakers, not just in-house staff. Sandoval County brought the program before the New Mexico Legislature’s Interim Indian Affairs Committee on October 2, 2024, under the title Promoting the overall health, well-being, and prosperity of Native American residents and all residents of Sandoval County. That presentation identified the team members and their roles, which shows the county was documenting the program in a public policy setting.
A separate county presentation on IPRA and Sandoval County identified Evelyn Sandoval as Navajo & Apache Liaison, 2017, and Sheila Herrera as Keres-Language Liaison, 2020. Those dates show the roles have been in place for years, not created as a one-time outreach campaign. The program’s longer life also fits with the county’s broader Native-focused engagement, including a 2024 Indian Affairs Summit page and the tribal liaison materials that keep the contacts current for residents.
Why the county’s geography makes this office matter
Sandoval County is described in local materials as having more Native American communities than any other county in the country save one, tied with San Diego County. That kind of demographic and jurisdictional mix makes a tribal liaison office a necessity rather than an extra courtesy. County government here has to function across sovereign governments, languages and local traditions that do not fit into a single county template.
The brochure’s plainest value is that it turns that complexity into a usable directory. A resident in Counselor, a family in Cochiti, or a community member in Jemez does not have to start from scratch with county hall and hope the right person answers. The county has already named the liaison, the community, the language and the office, which is what makes the program a standing part of how Sandoval County actually works.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
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