South Dakota state government now has a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Coordinator and a Human Trafficking Coordinator.
Allison Morrisette, the state’s inaugural Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Coordinator, is an enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota Sioux Tribe. She most recently served as Adult Diversion Coordinator for the Pennington County State’s Attorney.
Courtesy photo.
Mary Beth Holzwarth is South Dakota’s Human Trafficking Coordinator. For the past 13 years she has served as the CEO of Endeavor 52, a grassroots organization dedicated to child sexual assault prevention.
Courtesy photo.
Attorney General-elect Marty Jackley is pleased to have both women onboard. He says Morrisette’s proven ability to work with different law enforcement agencies and Native communities will be a powerful asset furthering the Attorney General’s Office’s commitment to serving all South Dakotans and Holzwarth’s long track record of advocating for children will be a powerful tool in the state’s fight against human trafficking.
“I am excited to begin this work,” said Morrisette. “A lot of my relatives feel they are overlooked. My job with the Attorney General’s Office is to ensure that is not true. In my culture we live by the words, Mitakuye Oyasin, which means ‘all my relations’ or ‘we are all related.’ I carry that belief with me into this new role.”
“Joining the Attorney General’s Office in this new role gives me the opportunity to carry on my work combating childhood sexual abuse and widen my focus to address other manifestations of exploitation including sexual and labor trafficking,” said Holzwarth.
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