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South Dakota Attorney General Mark Vargo prepared on Tuesday to hire a law enforcement officer to coordinate investigations into the disappearances and murders of Native Americans.
Vargo’s office said in a statement that he met with indigenous leaders after a gathering that included a song by the Wambli Ska Society of Rapid City and a smudge ceremony.
The Legislative Assembly created the liaison position in 2021 to coordinate the efforts of federal, tribal and local law enforcement agencies to address high rates of unsolved murders and disappearances among Indigenous peoples. Tribal members are disproportionately represented in the state’s missing persons database.
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The South Dakota AG is preparing to hire a law enforcement officer to coordinate investigations into missing and murdered Natives.
“We hope we can work more closely together to resolve the issues we have together,” Vargo said in a statement. “Our issues don’t respect ethnicities or jurisdictional boundaries. They don’t respect lines on the map. So why should our response be divided by these things?”
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Vargo plans to hire someone for the position in the coming months.
