MMIP and human trafficking coordinators hired by South Dakota Attorney General’s office

Two new hires by the South Dakota Attorney General's Office will coordinate efforts to investigate Missing and Murdered Indigenous People's cases and human trafficking cases.

Allison Morrisette will be the MMIP coordinator and Mary Beth Holzwarth will be the human trafficking coordinator, according to the Attorney General's Office. The two women were introduced to the public on Wednesday during a press conference in Rapid City.

“The two women to my right and on my far left, have a huge task in front of them,” Acting Attorney General Mark Vargo said. “These are brand new positions. We have great faith they will define these positions for years to come.”

Both positions will work with non-profits dedicated to preventing human trafficking and tracking MMIP cases, as well as local law enforcement, tribal law enforcement and their federal counterparts. Rep. Peri Pourier, D-Pine Ridge, who was the lead sponsor on the legislation that established the MMIP position said that this was the state's way of coming to the table.

“Part of the intent of when this position was created was to help bridge the gaps over the several different jurisdictions within South Dakota, especially on tribal lands,” she said. “There's so many different loopholes and there's different jurisdictional lines that a lot of cases fall within the cracks.”

More: ‘Just another drunk Indian': How 20 years without answers made this South Dakota family part of an invisible crisis

An MMIP epidemic

MMIP cases have been called an “epidemic” by United State's Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. Since 2019, the federal government has gathered data on MMIP, which previously has not been tracked.

On the South Dakota's missing person's database, a majority of the cases are Native women, men and children.

While the MMIP office was established in early 2021, former Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg, who was impeached during the summer, said in January that the office never received funding, calling it “an unfunded mandate.”

In March, Native Hope, a non-profit in Chamberlain focusing on uplifting Native voices, gave a grant of $85,000 for three years to fund the office.

More: Private grant funds SD AG's missing Indigenous coordinator

During the press conference, Pourier said the office would be funded for the foreseeable future. Vargo was confident it would become “very sustainable” once they have data to show the work that has been done.

Morrisette, a citizen of the Oglala Lakota, worked in the Pennington County State's Attorney Office and said she hoped relationships she had built in that office with the Native community would benefit her in her new position.

“[I want] to be easily accessible to people,” she said. “That way they feel comfortable enough to come to me and if I don't have the answers, I want to point them in the right direction on where they can get those answers.”

Morrisette's office will be based in Rapid City but she plans to travel to all tribal nations in the state.

Trafficking coordinator will focus on all facets of the issue

Holzwarth, who comes from a background of child sexual assault prevention, worked at the South Dakota Women's Prison with victims of human trafficking.

She said her task is similar to Morrisette's to listen and build out plans on how to tackle the issue. And she plans to focus on all aspects of trafficking.

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“The folks that are being labor trafficked are almost always vulnerable and then it's only a short step from that to selecting from them and expanding into sex trafficking,” Vargo explained.

Holzwarth will be based in Pierre.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: South Dakota AG hires MMIP, human trafficking investigators